Rutledge: I think the sliceand-bake option is great for a novice. Drop cookies are also a good choice, but are maybe less festive-looking. For more of a challenge, stamp cookies would really up your game. Stamp cookies — those made with a cookie stamp/press — have become really popular lately. They require a little more effort, but you can get really pretty cookies without having to go the icing decorating route.
Q: When attending a cookie swap or just gifting cookies, what is your go-to cookie?
pe, so they don’t try. I literally just throw stuff in the mix. If you put extra baking soda in, keep going — it’s going to put a little bit more air in the mix, but it’s not going to destroy your cookies. Rutledge: The spacing of unbaked cookies on a baking sheet can throw people off, particularly for scoop and drop cookies, which tend to spread into one another. I like to stagger my cookies on the pan to be able to get more on the pan while avoiding them baking into one giant, mis-shapen cookie. Bullock-Prado: Overmixing the dough is the biggest sin.
Once you add flour, stop just before it’s completely incorporated. That means the dough will look a bit piecey, with some flour flecks that are unincorporated. Because most doughs are chilled before baking, when you transfer doughs to plastic wrap to chill, you can gently fold the dough over to incorporate any loose flour. This ensures a tender, not a tough, finished cookie. Remember, it’s not just the mixing stage where you can overwork the dough. When you roll out cookie dough, you’re also working the dough, i.e. creating gluten. Be gentle from the get-go and you’ll have perfect cookies.
Q: Any tips for frosting cookies? Bullock-Prado: Practice piping with royal icing on parchment to get a feel for different techniques and consistencies. Outline piping and flooding aren’t that hard to master once you get a sense of the right consistency for both. Having a few piping bags and piping tips makes your work neater as well.
Q: For our readers that have had a bad experience when baking cookies, burnt edges and the like,
Rutledge: My new holiday cookie favorite is the Hot Cocoa Cookie [see recipe, page 20]. They’re a type of thumbprint cookie, easy, and super chocolatey. I’m also a huge fan of shortbread. You can bake them in many different shapes. Many of [King Arthur’s] recipes have you bake the dough in a round cake pan, then cut wedges while still warm, for nice, sharp edges. Bullock-Prado: I am a fan of butter cookies, German butter cookies, specifically. I developed a browned butter cookie [See recipe, page 21] that I adore for its simplicity and its deliciousness. Scalise: Winter in the Berkshires [see recipe, page 21] is great for a cookie swap. It’s a fun spin on a mint chocolate chip cookie. It’s like an adult version of the Girl Scout’s thin mint cookie.
Q: What are the most common mistakes people make when baking cookies? How can they avoid it? Scalise: I find a lot of people are intimidated by baking in general. They’re scared they are going to mess up the reci-
Arrange all the cookies on a table with copies of the respective recipes near each.
18 | UPCOUNTRY MAGAZINE | November/December 2019