Hello Recipe Club,

Put simply, The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion provides everything you need to know about cookie baking - an essential addition to any baker's shelf. The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion is a follow-up to the hugely successful King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion (2003), which was selected as the James Beard Foundation's coveted KitchenAid Cookbook of the Year. It was also chosen as one of the top cookbooks of 2003 by such illustrious publications as Food & Wine, People, New York Times, Boston Globe, Saveur, and Amazon.com.

The King Arthur Flour Company is the largest single educator of bakers in the world. Employee-owned since 1996, the company conducts a yearly national baking class tour that has provided free baking instruction for more than 25,000 students per year.

Do you like to decorate cookies? If so read on...

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Decorator's Dream Cookies

Cookies for decorating should be thin, light and crisp, sturdy enough to decorate, yet tender rather than hard. This is one of our favorite cut-out cookie recipes; the Fiori di Sicilia ("Flowers of Sicily," a wonderful orange-vanilla flavor) adds a special "bakery-style" flavor to these treats.

Makes about 4 dozen 2-inch cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) butter
2 cups (8 ounces) confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons (1 3/8 ounces) light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten with 2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon baker's ammonia*, optional
3 1/2 cups (14 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

Preparation:

In a medium-sized bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and corn syrup until light and fluffy. Beat in the flavoring and salt. Add the baker's ammonia to the egg and water and stir to dissolve. 

Add this mixture, along with the flour, to the ingredients in the bowl, and beat until smooth. Divide the dough in half, put each half in a plastic bag, and flatten each slightly. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) several baking sheets.

Take one piece of dough out of the refrigerator and flour a clean work surface and the dough. Roll it out as thin or thick as you like; for slightly less crisp cookies, roll it out more thickly. 

We roll Decorator's Dream Cookies 1/16- to 1/8-inch thick, Light Spice Cookies, 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick and Gingerbread Cookies, which we prefer a bit less crisp and more chewy, 1/4-inch thick.

Use flour under and on top of the dough to keep it from sticking to the table or rolling pin. Alternatively, place the dough on parchment and put a sheet of plastic wrap over it as you roll, pulling the plastic to eliminate wrinkles as necessary when rolling. 

This will keep dough from sticking without the need for additional flour. For soft dough, or dough to be rolled extra-thin, you may choose to roll right onto the ungreased back of a baking sheet.

Cut out shapes with a cookie cutter, spacing them as close to one another as possible.

After cutting cookies, carefully peel up the scrap dough between them. Set this dough aside in a bag in the refrigerator, to be rolled again later.

Transfer cookies to ungreased cookie sheets (or, if you've rolled right onto the pan, remove the dough scraps between the cookies). Bake the cookies just until they're slightly brown around the edges, or until they feel firm, about 8 to 12 minutes. 

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for several minutes, or until they're set. Transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.

*Baker's ammonia will make an ultra-crisp cookie.

Baking time: 8 to 12 minutes.

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Light Spice Cookies

Halfway between sugar cookies and gingerbread, these golden cookies are perfect for decorating.

Makes 3 to 4 dozen 2 1/2- to 3-inch cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) butter
1/2 cup (3 1/4 ounces) vegetable shortening
3/4 cup (6 ounces) light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice or cloves
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) molasses
3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) cornstarch

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter, shortening, sugars, baking powder, spices and salt until light and fluffy. Add the egg and molasses and beat well. Mix about half of the flour into the butter mixture. When well combined, add the cornstarch and the remaining flour. 

Divide the dough in half, flattening each half slightly, and wrap well. Refrigerate for 1 hour (or longer), for easiest rolling. Shape cookies as directed in the Decorator's Dream recipe, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes in a preheated 350°F oven.

Baking time: 10 to 12 minutes.

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Gingerbread Cookies

This molasses-dark, ginger-and-spice flavored cookie is perfect for gingerbread men. We roll it a bit thicker than usual, to give the cookies just a hint of "chew." While ginger is often thought of as a winter baking flavor, we've found that ginger pairs well with various fruits, too. Ginger and peach is an especially wonderful combination; try gingerbread cookies served with fresh sliced peaches, or a peach crumble topped with gingerbread crumbs.

Yield: 3 dozen 3-inch cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks, 6 ounces) butter
3/4 cup (5 3/4 ounces) light or dark brown sugar, lightly packed
3/4 cup (9 ounces) molasses
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice or cloves
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 1/2 cups (14 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a saucepan set over low heat, or in the microwave, melt the butter, then stir in the sugar, molasses, salt and spices. Transfer the mixture to a medium-sized mixing bowl, let it cool to lukewarm and beat in the egg.

Whisk the baking powder and soda into the flour and then stir these dry ingredients into the molasses mixture. Divide the dough in half and wrap well. Refrigerate for 1 hour or longer.

Shape cookies as directed in the Decorator's Dream recipe, and bake for 8 to 10 minutes in a preheated 375°F oven.

Baking time: 8 to 10 minutes.