Austin, TX

I love sugar cookies but I used to hate making them because with most recipes you have to refrigerate the dough overnight. I’m not much of one for planning ahead and I’m not all that patient either. Therefore, I rarely made sugar cookies.

Last year that all changed. While attending the Capital Confectioner’s Cake Show (which is now just a mere 11 days away!), I sat in on a demonstration by local cookie diva, Penny McConnell. Penny shared her sugar cookie recipe and techniques which really blew me away. Firstly, Penny’s sugar cookies do not need to be refrigerated overnight. Secondly, the dough is soft and supple and easy to work with. You can re-roll it and re-roll it and it doesn’t dry out. You can literally use every scrap of her dough. Thirdly, her technique of coloring and watering down the dough to pipe it on before baking makes for really cool cookies. It also makes it possible to flood fill your cookies with royal icing without having to outline them and wait for the outline to dry. How cool is that? Fourthly, these sugar cookies taste fantastic! Fifthly, this is a great recipe for kids, too. See how gorgeous mine turned out?

Here is Penny’s recipe:

You’re going to love using this dough in your home. It’s really quick to put together, doesn’t need to be refrigerated before rolling, and is formulated to accept additional flour as you roll our the cookies. Feel free to make as large a batch as your mixer will hold.

Yield: 3-4 dozen cookies
Temperature: 325 degrees F

2 Cups butter, salted
2 Cups sugar, granulated
2 large eggs
4 Tablespoons pure vanilla
4 Tablespoons Almond (or other flavor) extract
6 Cups flour, all purpose
1 Tablespoon baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare cookie sheets with kitchen parchment.
2. In mixer bowl, mix butter with sugar until smooth. Remember to just incorporate these ingredients, do not cream until light.
3. Add all liquid ingredients to bowl. This mixture will probably curdle but the finished dough will be just fine.
4. In a separate bowl, mix flour with baking powder.
5. Add the dry ingredients all at once to the mixer bowl and process until heavy dough forms.

Penny mentioned that if your cookies come out inconsistent then you’re probably not thoroughly mixing your dough. She said your cookies should look almost uncooked with the bottoms being a slightly darker blond.

6 Tablespoons water
3 Tablespoons meringue powder (half this in very hot weather)
3.5 Cups powdered sugar, sifted.

1. Put water in mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients.
2. Put the mixing speed on low. Mix ingredients until they form a thick frosting. Depending on the freshness of the sugar, you may need to add additional water. The frosting at this point should resemble thick cookie glaze.
3. When the icing is smooth, put the mixer on it’s highest setting an process until the icing goes from shiney to dull and will stand in stiff peaks.

Note: After you make the icing, keep it covered with a damp cloth at all times (including when you have tinted it and put it into the pastry bags) or it will crust over. This icing is not a “keeper”. It does not have a long shelf-life so make jast as much as you need for the day of decorating.

Another super cool technique Penny showed was coloring your cookies with dough. She took a walnut size piece of the cookie dough and added water until it was of a consistency that it could be piped onto the cookie in a piping bag with a number 2 tip. She then colored the dough and put it in a pastry bag. She cuts out her cookies and then pipes the colored dough on to outline words. The effect was really pretty. I am so going to try it this week.

This would be a great time to make a cookie bouquet for your special someone!

Penny’s Cookie Tips
From Penny McConnell of Penny’s Pastries

Cookie decorating should be fun!

I’ve been baking and decorating cookies for most of my life for family and friends and then in my business, Penny’s Pastries, for the last ten years.

Here are some tips I’ve learned over the years that will support you and make your cookie baking memorable.

Cookies, Valentine’s, Day, Sugar, Easy, No refrigerate, kid, friendly, royal icing, dough, tips, Penny McConnell, stories