The Philosophy of Sugar Cookies: A Guide to Not Messing Up

When I eat a sugar cookie, it's more like a show. The cookie is all about decoration once it comes out, and then it's time to have fun. As Chef Ben, I'm here to guide you through the process of making perfect sugar cookies without messing it up.

The Three Major Steps: Creaming, Adding Liquid, and Adding Dry Ingredients

There are three major steps to making sugar cookies: creaming your butter and sugar, adding your liquid, and then adding your dry ingredients in sections. The key to success lies in these three steps. First, you need to cream your butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy. This is where the magic happens, and you'll know you've done it right when the mixture becomes smooth and creamy.

Using a Mixer is Essential

You can't mess up this step if you have a mixer. A mixer will help you cream your butter and sugar for the required two to three minutes, ensuring that everything is well incorporated. Without a mixer, you risk overmixing or undermixing, which can lead to cookies that are tough or dense.

The Importance of Temperature

When it comes to working with butter and eggs, they are like nemesis. You can only bring them together with sugar in the creaming method to produce the perfect cookie. This means keeping your butter at room temperature for a couple of hours before using it, as this will help it soften and become more pliable.

The Role of Mixing Speed

Once you've incorporated all your dry ingredients, it's time to increase the speed on your mixer and continue mixing for another five minutes. This may seem like a lot, but trust me, it makes a difference in the final product. The increased speed will help break down any lumps and ensure that everything is well combined.

Resting the Dough

After you've mixed everything together, it's time to let the dough rest in the refrigerator for three hours or overnight. This allows the flour to hydrate and the butter to firm up, making the dough easier to work with when it comes time to roll it out.

Rolling Out the Dough: A Key to Success

The key to rolling out the dough is having a chilled dough and rolling it out to a quarter inch thick. After you've rolled your dough out, place it in the freezer for five minutes. This will make the cookie cutting process a lot easier, as the dough will be firmer and more manageable.

Baking the Cookies: A Delicate Balance

When it comes to baking the cookies, you want them to be blonde all the way through. To achieve this, bake the cookies at 350 degrees right around 12 minutes. The cookies should be firm to the touch but still slightly soft in the center.

The Icing: A Canvas for Your Creativity

After the cookies have cooled completely, it's time to add the icing. This is where you get to let your creativity shine, and I'm not going to judge you if you decorate differently than someone else. Remember, baking is all about having fun and expressing yourself.

Following the Rules, Then Having Fun

One thing to remember is that this is for every everything baking – relax because you're making cookies, you're not landing a 747 full of passengers or swimming to shore in a storm. You are making cookies, and it's okay to make mistakes. The most important thing is to have fun and enjoy the process.

The Philosophy of Sugar Cookies

These sugar cookies contain more than just ingredients – they contain philosophies of life. You will not mess this cookie up if you do a decoration different than the person standing across from you. You will not mess this cookie up if you do dots instead of zigzags. One thing to remember is that baking is all about relaxation and having fun, because when it comes down to it, it's just cookies.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhen i eat a sugar cookie it's more of like a show the cookie is all about decoration once the cookie comes out then it's time to have fun i'm chef ben and this is how not to mess up sugar cookies essentially there's three major steps creaming your butter and sugar adding your liquid and then adding your dry in sections the butter take it out of the refrigerator let that sit at room temperature for a couple of hours it won't go bad i promise keep in mind the butter and the egg are nemesis you can only bring butter and egg together with sugar in the creaming method in order to produce this cookie properly you need a mixer you will mess this cookie up if you don't cream it for your two to three minutes this recipe is it's very distinct in increasing the speed once all the dry ingredients are incorporated and then continuing to mix them for another five minutes you're gonna let this rest in the refrigerator for three hours or overnight the keys for rolling it out have a chilled dough and roll it out to a quarter inch thick after you have rolled your dough out you're gonna place it into the freezer for five minutes this is gonna make the cookie cutting process a lot easier now it's time to play tetris with all of the cookie cutters that you want to use bake at 350 right around 12 minutes you want it to be a blonde all the way through so the icing sugar meringue powder water and vanilla after all the ingredients are incorporated continue mixing it with the paddle attachment until it's thick and glossy peaks so this is going to take about two minutes the cookie should be all the way cool before you add your icing if you put your icing on before it's too cool everything that you've done when you're preparing the icing will kind of be a moot point the actual cookie dough is the canvas and then all of the icing and all the sprinkles and all the designs that you have inside your mind that's going to be where you come in and you be your own bob ross remember let's follow the rules and then have fun do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do these are the philosophies of life inside of a sugar cookie you will not mess this cookie up if you do a decoration different than the person that's standing across from you you will not mess this cookie up if you do dots instead of zigzags one thing to remember this is for every everything baking relax because you're making cookies you're not landing a 747 full of passengers you're not swimming to shore in a storm you're making cookies i'm such a smart ass youwhen i eat a sugar cookie it's more of like a show the cookie is all about decoration once the cookie comes out then it's time to have fun i'm chef ben and this is how not to mess up sugar cookies essentially there's three major steps creaming your butter and sugar adding your liquid and then adding your dry in sections the butter take it out of the refrigerator let that sit at room temperature for a couple of hours it won't go bad i promise keep in mind the butter and the egg are nemesis you can only bring butter and egg together with sugar in the creaming method in order to produce this cookie properly you need a mixer you will mess this cookie up if you don't cream it for your two to three minutes this recipe is it's very distinct in increasing the speed once all the dry ingredients are incorporated and then continuing to mix them for another five minutes you're gonna let this rest in the refrigerator for three hours or overnight the keys for rolling it out have a chilled dough and roll it out to a quarter inch thick after you have rolled your dough out you're gonna place it into the freezer for five minutes this is gonna make the cookie cutting process a lot easier now it's time to play tetris with all of the cookie cutters that you want to use bake at 350 right around 12 minutes you want it to be a blonde all the way through so the icing sugar meringue powder water and vanilla after all the ingredients are incorporated continue mixing it with the paddle attachment until it's thick and glossy peaks so this is going to take about two minutes the cookie should be all the way cool before you add your icing if you put your icing on before it's too cool everything that you've done when you're preparing the icing will kind of be a moot point the actual cookie dough is the canvas and then all of the icing and all the sprinkles and all the designs that you have inside your mind that's going to be where you come in and you be your own bob ross remember let's follow the rules and then have fun do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do these are the philosophies of life inside of a sugar cookie you will not mess this cookie up if you do a decoration different than the person that's standing across from you you will not mess this cookie up if you do dots instead of zigzags one thing to remember this is for every everything baking relax because you're making cookies you're not landing a 747 full of passengers you're not swimming to shore in a storm you're making cookies i'm such a smart ass you\n"