I've had many requests but have been hesitant to release my recipe for sugar cookies. I love the taste and texture of my cookies, but I do get a little bit of spread. I don't mind the spread because I think that taste is more important - so if you are the same, feel free to give my recipe a try. Please don't come at me because your cookies have spread a little bit! I've included some tips at the end to help minimize this - usually I will find no more than 1mm of spread and I'm comfortable with that.
Ingredients
100 grams softened butter
110 grams caster sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
240 grams plain flour
20 grams corn flour
1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
Method
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for around a minute. It should look fluffy and become lighter in colour.
Add in the egg and the vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
Add the plain flour, corn flour and salt. Mix on a low speed until just combined and your dough has started forming.
Using your hands remove the dough from the mixing bowl and form the dough into a ball. Place into a plastic zip-lock bag or onto some cling wrap. Flatten the ball to a disc that is around 2cm thick and place into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Unwrap your chilled dough and place on a lightly floured surface for rolling. I often roll on baking paper so that I can easily transfer my cookies to the freezer without moving them. The dough should be firm but soft enough that you can make an indent with your finger when pressing down with moderate pressure.
Roll dough to desired thickness (I usually roll my dough to 6mm thickness) and use a cookie cutter or knife to cut your desired shapes. This recipe will yield one large geo cookie set (i.e. rectangle) or two smaller geo cookie sets (i.e. heart, circle etc) if rolling to 6mm thickness.
Preheat fan-forced oven to 160C (320F). Place cut shapes in the freezer for 15 minutes. Try not to move your shapes until they have been frozen as you may distort the cut shapes.
Remove dough from freezer and place onto baking tray. You can now move your shapes as they will be quite firm from the freezer and won't be distorted as you move them. Space them to allow at least 2cm between each cookie.
Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and leave cookies on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. I often run a fondant smoother over the top of my cookies as soon as I take them out of the oven to make sure the tops are nice and flat.
Tips to avoid cookies spreading
Don't use butter that is too cold or has softened too much. Usually 15-20 minutes out of the fridge is enough time for my butter to soften but this will depend on the temperature at the time.
Weigh your ingredients. Baking is a scientific process and measurements are important if you want consistent results.
Don't overmix your ingredients.
Don't skip the freezing step! I think this is the most important step to avoid cookie spread - and if you're making geo cookies, this step helps you to move the cookies without distorting the shape.
Bake on perforated baking mat if you can - I find these much better than baking paper or other types of silicone baking mats. The perforated mats allow better air circulation so you have a more even bake, less spread and your cookies will have nice looking bottoms too! I bought my mats from eBay.
If you do have a bit of spread and want to trim down your cookie edges you can use a fine micro-grater or citrus zesting tool to gently shave a portion of the cookie away.
If you want to bake a larger batch, you can definitely double or triple the quantities listed here. I hope you enjoy the recipe - let me know if you try it as I'd love your feedback.
Shop the full range of Bikkie Smalls Geo Multi-Cutters at Custom Cookie Cutters.