I've read all the good reviews on this recipe, so I know it has to be something I did wrong.

My dough is really gritty - almost feels like homemade salt playdough. It was really really hard to work with even after being well chilled. I actually couldn't get cut out shapes without breaking them (I put them in the freezer before trying to remove the excess dough from around the cut outs, but they all still broke.) When I did a test bake with just a flattened ball of dough (flattened to about 1/4 inch) they were extremely dense, really tough, greaasy, doughy, and really chewy (not the good kind of chewy). They spread quite a bit as well.

The recipe calls for 3 - 4 cups sugar. I used 4. Do you think this was too much, or that maybe I just didn't cream well enough? Can you think of anything I can do to salvage this batch of dough?

Please post the recipe. Sounds like a lot of sugar but I can't tell unless I know the porportion of flour and other ingredients.

This is the recipe I used. I only needed 5 cups of flour, but after the first failed batch, I added the last cup - which didn't seem to help things. I wish I knew what I did wrong. The dough tastes wonderful, just didn't bake up right.

Ingredients
2 sticks of butter
1 cup veg. shortening
3-4 cups white sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)
3 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract (optional)
1 pinch of salt
1-4 oz. box of instant pudding (any flavor)
6 cups of all-purpose flour
Instructions
Cream butter, shortening, and sugar together until light in color and fluffy in texture. Add eggs and extracts and mix to combine. In a separate small bowl combine the box of instant pudding mix (dry powder), 1 cup of flour, and the pinch of salt (use a whisk to ensure theyre distributed evenly). Add this to your butter mixture. Continue to add flour 1 cup at a time stirring well to combine after each addition. Depending on the humidity you may only need to use 5 cups of the flour. You want to continue adding four until the dough begins to come together as a solid mass. At this point, let it rest for about 5 minutes, if you can push your finger into the dough and it doesnt stick to your finger, it is done. If it does stick, add some extra flour 1/2 c. at a time.

I made this recipe last week and was also disappointed in the results. The dough was a little gritty and the baked cookies, like you said, were chewy in a strange way. Maybe it's the pudding mix? I used the regular (not sugar free) kind. I'll go back to the regular NFSC recipe next time.

Make sure you are not chilling the dough before you roll it out between wax paper. Also take a look at the amount of flour you are putting in. I use the minimum amount of flour and the maximum amount of sugar. Last, are you rolling them thick enough? Hope that helps. I love the recipe and have never had problems. Here is the link to the recipe.

http://cakecentral.com/recipes/15218/khalsteads-modified-nfsc

I have tried this recipe twice now and I am sticking to the NFSC recipe which is always fabulour. I always wonder why I try something new when the old one works so good LOL.

Sounds like a lot of sugar. I use the following NFSC recipe with fabulous results every time.

NFSC

Ingredients
6 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract or almond extract
1 tsp. salt

Directions
1.  Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well.
2.  Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture above. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.
3.  Chill for 1 to 2 hours.
4.  Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes.
5.  Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges.
6.  This recipe can make up to 5-dozen 3 cookies.

I use the one Jillfcs uses and have had great results. I'm too chicken to try another one!

I use this one, the cookies are very soft and delicate. Here they are called 'Linz cookies'. Sometimes I also add 2 tsp cinnamon.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

8 ounces (2 sticks) softened butter
3/4 cup sugar (if you want them more sweet, add 1 1/2 cup instead of 3/4)
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder non sweetened (to mix only in 1/2 of the dough)
Preparation:

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Add the flour and work into a smooth dough. Divide dough in half and mix cocoa powder into half of the dough.

You may roll immediately between waxed or parchment paper but refrigerate before cutting for more even strips. The oven should not be too hot, not more than 356F, cooked they should be nice light a bit buttery colour (vanilla ones).

Make 2 colors or checkerboard cookies. The recipe and many more can be found at
http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/bohemianczechdesserts/r/black-and-white-cookies.htm

Usuallly this type of cookies is made with less sugar because after letting them to cool properly, they stick 2 together (normally use only vanilla ones) with preserve or jam and cover them in vanillinated icing sugar. They are also good with RI and as RI has tons of sugar in it I prefer the cookies less sweet themselves. Like them also single even with less sugar, but maybe they are more of european taste.