Basic Drop Cookies Recipes

EASY DROP COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Cream together butter or margarine and white sugar. Add egg, vanilla and milk. Mix well.
• Gradually add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Roll spoonfuls of dough in your hands and dip one end in colored sugar. Place on baking sheets and press top down with a glass. Bake for 12 minutes.

BASIC DROP COOKIES

Steps:

• Prepare oven and pans Heat oven to 350°F, with one rack in center and one rack in bottom third. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Combine dry ingredients In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda.
• Cream butter and sugars Place butter and both sugars in a mixing bowl. Mash and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture is very light and fluffy (this can take up to 6 minutes, or 2 to 3 minutes if you're using an electric mixer). Add eggs one at a time, beating until thoroughly incorporated after each. Stir in vanilla.
• Add dry ingredients and mix-ins Add dry ingredients in three additions, stirring until completely incorporated after each. Stir in desired add-ins. (Or, if making several types of cookies, first divide dough into equal parts and then stir in appropriate amounts of add-ins: 1 rounded cup for dough split in half, 3/4 cup for dough divided into thirds.)
• Bake and cool Using a 1 1/2-inch ice-cream scoop, drop dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart Bake, rotating sheets top to bottom and back to front halfway through, until golden brown at edges and set in center, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week, or frozen up to 1 month.
• Drop-Cookie Tips
• If your cookies turn out dense and hard, you might be using ingredients that are too cold and not creaming them enough. If your cookies spread too much in the oven and are too thin, on the other hand, you might be overdoing the creaming step or using ingredients that are too warm. It's worth the time to chill your dough before baking; this will help to control how much it spreads in the oven as it bakes.
• Sifting Chopped Nuts
• Before incorporating chopped nuts into doughs or batters, sift out the fine dust in a sieve. This will keep the particles from clouding the color or imparting a grainy texture.

STIR AND DROP SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400°F. In large bowl, mix 3/4 cup sugar, the oil, baking powder, vanilla, salt and eggs with spoon. Stir in flour.
• Drop dough by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Press bottom of glass onto dough to grease, then dip into additional sugar; press on balls until 1/4-inch thickness. Dip bottom of glass onto a wet paper towel, then dip into dry gelatin; press onto dough. Repeat until desired color appears.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes until light brown. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.