The search for the perfect THICK, CHEWY, NON-ROLLED sugar cookie recipe.

[lbaat]

I have been searching for a sugar cookie recipe that will make cookies like I get at a really good bakery. All the recipes I find are either rolled, thin and crispy, thin and chewy, or too much like a chocolate chip cookie (without the chocolate). I want a cookie that tastes like a sugar cookie but is thick and chewy and craggily (like a chocolate chip cookie but not). Can anyone help? I am struggling to find this type or recipe.

[Jpan99]

If you want them like "chocolate chip cookies but not" why not make your chocolate chip cookie recipe but don't put the chips in. That's a basic sugar cookie. You could use all white sugar instead of white and brown to get a more traditional sugar cookie taste.

[pine time]

Mr. Pine doesn't like chocolate (I think it's a genetic mutation), so this is what I do, too. Call 'em chocolate chipless cookies for him. Make the regular batter, sans chips, bake half as chipless, then add the chips and bake mine. Marital harmony.

[Jpan99]

When I'm making chocolate chip cookies I always scrape up the last of the batter in the bowl and make a chipless cookie. That's the one I eat warm from the oven!

[lagne]

Compromise is where it's at. :) I'm also a non-chocolate-eater.. I often bake my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe with no chips. I love the flavor of the browned butter in this one, and the chewiness.

[lbaat]

To me, a chocolate chip cookie without chocolate chips is not the same thing as a sugar cookie. I have tried this and it just isn't the same. It just doesn't work for me! The sugar cookies I tend to get in the good bakeries around where I live are so wonderful and not just chocolate chip cookies without the chips. I am really excited to try Emme's cookies now that there has been so much talk about them. Thanks everyone!

[Emme]

1 1/4 cups white sugar (sometimes i'll do 3/4 white, 1/2 dark brown)
225 g browned butter, still melted
3 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla extract
180 g all-purpose flour
127 g bread flour
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1/4 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

Cream butter and sugar. Add in eggs and vanilla. Mix dry, add to wet. Chill for an hour or more. Bake at 350 for 8-10 (usually do 1 - 1 1/2 in size balls)... i pull em out before they're done, and let them set and cool on the baking sheet.

[lbaat]

Thanks for this recipe, it looks really interesting. Could you tell me how the cookies turn out? I will definitely have to try these.

[Emme]

chewy :) the milk powder is the big aid for this. you might prefer them more or less sweet... taste the dough. ...not sure what else you'd like to know... posted in response to your query with a cookie i think will fit the bill...

[lbaat]

No, this is great, thanks so much!

[lagne]

Played around with a few batches of this recipe today, and WOW... I seriously think these are my new favorite cookie. FANTASTIC. I used part brown sugar, per your suggestion. Didn't chill for an hour first, but did let the dough sit for about 15 minutes before baking. Absolutely delicious

To play with it some, I hijacked Momofuku Milk Bar's blueberry cream cookie - used this recipe as the base and adding Tosi's "milk crumbs" recipe with some dried blueberries. HEAVEN. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

[lagne]

I know this is an old thread, but can you share this recipe's origin?

[Emme]

glad it worked as a jumping off point for you. the origin... my kitchen... made it up by chemistry :)

[soccermom13]

Emme,
These look very good. You use only 3/4 tsp cornstarch?
Thanks!

[Emme]

damn that was 1/4 cup

[lagne]

I wondered about such a tiny amount! :) I actually just left it out when I made them, and they were wonderful. I'll try them with the cornstarch just for kicks... gives me an excuse to make them again.

[buttertart]

It will make them even "shorter".

[Emme]

this. if you liked them as is lagne, just omit it. if you want them just a bit more tenderly crumbed, try adding 15-20 grams or so. if that's not enough try up to 33-36 g of cornstarch.

[soccermom13]

Emme---THANK YOU!

[roxlet]

This is such an unusual recipe, Emme! You rarely see recipes with gram and cup measures in the same recipe.

[Emme]

truly my idiocy. i created this years ago, and never finished converting entirely to grams after i became a scale snob... it's something like 20 g milk powder, 30-35 g cornstarch, and for sure 250 g sugar...

[Emme]

Let's make this uniform, shall we?

Chewy Sugar Cookies

250 g granulated sugar (sometimes i'll do 150 g granulated, 100 g dark brown)
225 g browned butter, melted
3 egg yolks (large)
2 tsp vanilla extract
180 g all-purpose flour
127 g bread flour
20 g nonfat dry milk powder
30-35 g cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

Cream butter and sugar. Add in eggs and vanilla. Mix dry, add to wet. Chill for an hour or more. Bake at 350 for 8-10 (usually do 1 - 1 1/2 in size balls)... i pull em out before they're done, and let them set and cool on the baking sheet.

Much better....

[chowser]

I love this Chow recipe. They look just like the picture, crackly topped, chewy.

http://www.chow.com/recipes/11289-crackly-sugar-cookies

I also love these brown butter brown sugar cookies. The brown butter gives it a nice nutty taste.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/3764...

[lbaat]

Great! Thanks for these recipe. The picture on the first link looks great, I will be trying those soon!

[biondanonima]

I have a recipe for sour cream sugar cookies that sounds like exactly what you're looking for - they're much more in the cakey/chewy realm, rather than crisp, and you drop the dough like you would a chocolate chip cookie. They turn out thick, craggy and ugly (although you can pretty them up by rolling them into smooth balls in your hands and then flattening them lightly with the bottom of a glass before baking), but they are DELICIOUS - I like them plain or with icing (buttercream!). I'm not really a sugar cookie fan but I can eat these by the dozen. I'll post the recipe when I'm back at my home computer tonight.

[lbaat]

My mouth is already watering! I can't wait for the recipe, they sound perfect. Thanks so much in advance!

[dfrostnh]

My cookies come out thicker since I started using a scoop instead of tablespoons. You can buy scoops in different sizes. This might make the perfect cookie even better.

[biondanonima]

Here you go!

SOUR CREAM SUGAR COOKIES
3 1/2 c. sugar
2 c. shortening (I suppose you could use butter but it would probably make the cookies crisper)
2 c. sour cream
4 eggs
2 t. vanilla (I usually add a bit more)
9 c. flour
4 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt

Cream together the shortening and sugar, then add the eggs, sour cream and vanilla and beat until combined. Sift together the dry ingredients and mix into the liquid mixture (I usually use a wooden spoon, but you could use a mixer, just don't overwork). Drop onto ungreased baking sheets (I make these rather large - probably 2T.+ of dough each, or a small ice cream scoop would work) and bake at 350° for 10 min or until they are a pale golden color. They don't spread much, so if you want them to be even/smooth for icing purposes, roll them into balls and flatten slightly with a glass. Makes 10 dozen big cookies - I usually halve or quarter the recipe.

[apl222]

These look fantastic.. I know that even a half batch would be dangerous at our house.

Do you have any experience with freezing either the batter, or the finished cookie?

Thanks for sharing.

[biondanonima]

Sorry, I've never frozen the batter or the cookies, but I think they'd probably do ok either way. They are very forgiving and stay fresh for quite a while at room temperature - my mother used to send them to me in care packages when I was in college, and they survived a trip of several days in the mail plus a day or two in my dorm room very well. She also stores them in "nature's freezer" (an unheated garage in Michigan during the winter) and although they don't freeze hard the way they would in a real freezer, they do get a pretty deep chill - but they are perfectly delicious when they come back to room temp.

BTW, a half batch is still a HUGE amount, truly. A quarter batch is probably equivalent to most normal cookie recipes (2.25 cups of flour).

[babette feasts]

How about a snickerdoodle? You could leave out the cinnamon if you want it plain, but then I'd add a little vanilla extract.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/09/sni...

[lbaat]

Hmm... Not a bad idea. I will have to try that. Thanks for the idea and the link!