Dorie Greenspan's Sables (Basic Sugar Cookies)

I totally used to believe in Santa.

My mom had me and my brother write these wish lists for him a week before Christmas. We three would sit together and talk about where we would like to find the presents. If they are on the very bottom shelf of the bookcase on Christmas day, then that's it, it would be settled: Santa exists. And of course, Mom Santa would place our toy sets and Legos there with a nicely handwritten note about how we've been so good the entire year. Man, we loved Christmas.

I thought about asking the little ones at  my mother's church if they believed in Santa. Not to steal Jesus's thunder or anything, but just for fun. In the end, though, I decided better against it. I really did not want to be the stupid fool who interrupted them in the middle of Angry Birds. Plus I had this feeling they would stare at me like I was the weirdest grown-up ever, talking to them about Santa when they have clearly moved onto 1st grade.

Kids are so smart these days, they have to see things in order to believe it. Kids are so scary these days, they'll tell you what they like and what they would like to have now.

This Christmas, they wanted cookies.

I said kids are smart, and the picture above is proof. They know, instinctively almost, good cookies when they see them. They're also scary. You can't hold them back for too long. I say this from experience.

The recipe for these sweet sugar cookies is from a lady named Dorie Greenspan. I don't fully know who's who in the baking world, but Dorie Greenspan is up there on the list of must-know baker/cooks. After reading so many rave reviews, I flipped through her book, Baking: From My Home to Yours, and I was instantly smitten. One day I will get it in my hands, and more than one recipe will be starring on this blog.

FYI, my birthday is in April, but I am more than open to receiving generous cookbook gifts at any time of year, at any holiday, religious celebration, random act of kindness, etc.

But anyway, cookies. And kids.

These cookies are really flavorful and just sturdy enough for decorating. This is a super fun project year round for kids, too. In my experience, I've found that the dough doesn't fully suit cookie cutters with sharply defined edges or small details, like letters. But these are still really delicious. You'll get lots of compliments. That, I promise.

So. Let's make them.

Parchment paper is a godsend when you're rolling out cookie dough. The dough doesn't stick as much, and cleanup is so easy.

Flour the parchment paper, if you'd like.


 
Place another sheet of paper on top of the dough, and get out your rolling pin.

A word of caution here. Sometimes it's easy to roll the outside edges too thin and the middle too thick. Make sure to push down on the center to even out the thickness of the dough.

*If you don't want the hassle of rolling out the cookies, just gather the dough, form into a log, wrap in parchment paper, freeze, then cut and bake. You'll end up with pretty circular sugar cookies.*

This is my absolute favorite part of roll-out cookies. I have so much fun with the cookie cutters.

Kids go cuh-razy for fun shapes. Heck, I go crazy over them too. Too cute!

I'm guessing what happened here is that the middle kid got the cookie everyone wanted. Good job, little guy!



Dorie Greenspan's Sables (Basic Sugar Cookies)

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• Royal Icing, for decorating

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer) and beat on medium speed until smooth and very creamy, about 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar, powdered sugar, and salt and beat on medium speed until smooth and velvety (not fluffy and airy), about 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low and add the egg yolks, beating until incorporated, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle with a rubber spatula.
3. Add the flour to the bowl. Drape a kitchen towel over the mixer and make 5 (2-second) pulses on low speed to start to incorporate the flour. Remove the towel and mix on low speed just until the flour disappears into the dough and the dough looks soft, clumpy, and moist, about 30 seconds. (If you still have some flour in the bottom of the bowl, stop the mixer and use a rubber spatula to work it into the dough. The dough will not form a ball.) Scrape the dough onto a work surface, gather it into a ball, and divide it in half.
4. For round cookies, shape each piece into a smooth log about 9 inches long (it’s easiest to work on a piece of plastic wrap and use the plastic to help form the log). Wrap the logs tightly in plastic wrap and chill them for about 2 hours in the refrigerator or 45 minutes in the freezer. Slice each log into 1/3-inch-thick cookies. Place the rounds 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet and bake, rotating them halfway through the cooking time, until light brown on the bottom, lightly golden around the edges, and pale on top, about 17 to 20 minutes. Let the cookies rest 1 or 2 minutes before carefully transferring them to a cooling rack with a wide metal spatula.
5. For shaping with cookie cutters, place a ball of dough between 2 large pieces of waxed paper or plastic wrap. Flatten the ball with your hands into a disk, then use a rolling pin to roll the dough, turning it over frequently so that the paper doesn’t cut into it, until it’s 1/8 inch thick. With the waxed paper or plastic wrap intact, transfer the dough to a baking sheet; set aside. Repeat with the second ball and place on top of the first piece. Refrigerate or freeze until the dough is very firm, about 1 hour in the refrigerator or 30 minutes in the freezer.
6. Remove a round of dough from the refrigerator or freezer and place on a work surface. Remove and discard the top sheet of waxed paper or plastic wrap. Using a cookie cutter, stamp out as many shapes as possible. (Reserve the scraps in a pile to reroll later.) Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheet and space them 1 inch apart.
7. Bake until the cookies are light brown on the bottom, lightly golden around the edges, and pale on top, about 12 minutes. Let the cookies rest 1 or 2 minutes before carefully transferring them to a cooling rack with a wide metal spatula.
8. Gather the scraps, press into a disk, and roll between sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap. Place on a baking sheet and refrigerate or freeze until firm. Repeat cutting, baking, and cooling with the remaining dough. (You can reuse the parchment.)
9. If you choose, decorate the cooled cookies with royal icing.

 From Chow