An ideal drop cookie for improvisation; people prefer them with a bit of spice and chopped walnuts. Be sure to handle this dough gently, taking care not to overwork it when mixing; good butter cookies are tender.
Ingredients:
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup milk, plus more if needed
Methods:
- Heat the oven to 375°F. Use an electric blender to blend the butter and sugar; put vanilla and egg and beat until they mix thoroughly.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add half the dry ingredients to the dough, beat for a moment, then add the milk (if you’re adding any ingredients like spices, nuts, etc., now is the time).
- Beat for about 10 seconds, and then add the remaining dry ingredients and a little more milk, if necessary, to make soft dough that can be dropped from a spoon.
- Drop tablespoon-size mounds of dough about 3 inches apart in rows and columns on ungreased baking sheets. Bake until the edges are browned, about 10 minutes.
- Cool for around 5 minutes on the sheets before you use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a rack to finish cooling. (If icing or glazing, wait until they are cool and then decorate them right on the rack for a cleaner look; let set for about 10 more minutes.) Store the Chocolate Cookies in air tight jar at room temperature for not more than two days.
- A combination of unsweetened and sweetened chocolate is good here, but you can use just one or the other (if you use all unsweetened, increase the sugar to 1 cup): Increase the milk very slightly, to about 1/3 cup.
- Melt 1 ounce each semisweet and unsweetened chocolate and add to the mixture after combining the wet and dry ingredients.
Sour Cream Cookies. Sour cream not only gives the cookies a tangy taste but lets you use baking soda, whose flavor is less obtrusive than that of baking powder.
- They may be dropped and baked as directed or refrigerated for 1 hour, then rolled into walnut-size balls before baking: Substitute 1 teaspoon baking soda for the baking powder and about 1/2 cup sour cream for the milk.
Olive Oil Cookies. Substitute a good extra virgin olive oil (note that extra virgin’s flavor may dominate) for the butter; increase the flour by 1/2 cup. Sweet-Savory Cookies. Rosemary, black pepper, and red wine make for an unusual but delicious cookie; make these with olive oil or butter, increasing the flour by1/4 cup if you use olive oil: Decrease the sugar to 1/2 cup.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper and 1 teaspoon finely minced fresh rosemary leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary) with the other dry ingredients. Substitute red wine for the milk and bake as directed.
- When done, dust very lightly with sifted confectioners’ sugar. For slightly crunchier, more flavorful cookies, substitute 1/2 cup of the flour with 1/2 cup cornmeal.
Maple Cornmeal Cookies. Maple and cornmeal are a natural combination: Substitute 1/2 cup maple syrup and 1/4 cup brown sugar for the white sugar. Use 1 cup cornmeal and 1 1/2 cups flour. Omit the milk.
Related Tags: how to cook butter cookies, how to cook school butter cookies, procedures on how to cook butter cookies
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