AHello everyone! I've got a few questions. I need some help with a few sugar cookie problems. Let me say that I use NFSC recipe fot my decorated cookies. I love the texture and the flavor of it. Its so soft and a little fluffy inside which is impotant to me.tMy customers love that it is not a tough or crispy cookie. So now to the questions. I have been having problems with spreading and the driws RI absorbing oil and getting all splotchy. Do you use any baking powder? I read a few populare cookie blogs that don't use it. So I omitted it but was left with a cookie that didn't spread, but also didn't rise. That resulted ina dense notappetizing texture. Through the same blogs it was mentioned to use a butter with a higher butterfat content. This would help with the spreading as well. Not only did that not help, but I thing their was so much fat that it absorbed in to the icing causing discoloration. So, I ask, what kind of butter do you use? And do your cookies spread? I refigerate them as told, but left with no changes in appearance. The last question is about my RI. For about the last 7 years have always used Wilton Meringur Powder to make it. Everyone loves it and I have always had great success and no fails with it. Then I read how sinful it was :grin: so I switched Williams Sonoma brand. I noticed a slight difference in the flavor. But not enough to warrant the high cost. I saw it was make by CK brand. So I bought that. It never whipped up to piping stage. I could only flood with it. My bowl was clean, no oil residue. What does everyone out there use for RI? I have never had any problems up until the past few months. Any help will ne so appreciated. Even if you can only help with one question. Thanks y'all!;)

I use the cookie glace recipe - just powdered sugar, corn syrup, heavy cream/milk/water and flavoring for the base icing on my cookies.  No egg whites or meringue powder.

I love it, love the taste especially.  Some people say it dries hard enough to stack, but I don't have any luck with that.  It does dry somewhat, but I would never trust stacking them.

Liz

P.S.  I put the white food coloring in, which is supposed to help the splotchiness.  Even if you are going to color the glace later.

AThis is the recipe I use.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sugar-cookie-icing/

I like it much better than royal.

AI use plain ol' Land O' Lakes for my butter and I do use a recipe with baking powder in it. It spreads just a bit, but rises beautifully and yields a nice, soft cookie. I used to do the in-and-out of the fridge thing but I'm so done with that method. The recipe I use is faster and seriously, does not spread any more than any chilled dough I've ever made. Decorated, these cookies stay soft for WEEKS stored in my plastic container. I've never had that experience before.

I do like to let my cookies rest between layers of parchment overnight and sometimes I think that helps with the leeching issues.

While I have used Ateco meringue powder, I usually use Wilton because it's readily accessible to me when I decide on a whim to whip up cookies. I have not noticed a difference in performance or taste, honestly. I do flavor my icing quite a bit though so that could be a factor. I always use my whisk attachment to make my royal icing and it always whips up nice and stiff! Because I hate, hate, hate re-dos and wasted ingredients, I always give my bowl and whisk a good vinegar bath before I get started on royal icing or my meringue icings.

AThanks everyone for the replies and advice! I think I might go back to using Wilton. I never had problems with it. As far as butter, I was using a store brand because it was the cheapest. Then I started doing half cheap half expensive. I don't think that helped :-D maybe I'll try Land o Lakes. I can desl with a little bit of spreading as long as its soft inside :-D Has anyone tried Sugarbelle's recipe that uses confectioner sugar?

A

Sweet Sugarbelle's cookie recipe is the one I switched too after many years of baking other recipes and I love it.

A[@]SPCOhio[/@]I have seen Sweet Sugarbelle's recipe. She uses confectioners sugar. How do the cookies taste using that?

[@]johnson6ofus[/@] I have a few times here and on comments pages for Royal Icing tutorials about how people detest the very idea of Wilton's MP. But I put so much Almond extract in mine it tastes great. I did a side by side comparison with Williams Sonoma and Wilton. My husband, who is obsessed with decorated sugar cookies, couldn't tell the difference. The only big difference I noticed was that WS never whipped up to a stiff RI. So I am definitely going back to Wilton. It never failed me before.

AI use SB's recipe too and love it. I use my own secret flavor combination :) and I cut the baking powder down by 75%. I get a nice soft cookie that holds it shape great. I also use Aldi's brand butter and have had no problems with it. HTH!

thanks bella

A

I think they taste great. I play around with the flavoring a lot, using different extracts. I love to use vanilla bean paste because you can see the pretty little flecks of vanilla bean in the cookies. I am not a great sugar cookie lover, but I think these are fantastic. My husband IS a great sugar cookie lover and this has been his favorite recipe so far.