Calling All Cookie Experts!
Hello!
So, this was the first year that I really dived into the cookie making. After getting comfortable with the general sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies, I decided to try some more ornate cookies. I suceeded in most of them. Except for one! This was supposed to be my star cookie! I tried to bake Spitzbuebe cookies. Here's the first part of the recipe:
1 pound(s) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 1/8 cup(s) confectioners' sugar
4 large egg yolks
4 2/3 cup(s) all-purpose flour, sifted
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Directions
1. Prepare the Cookie Dough: Beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add 4 cups of sugar in a gradual stream and continue to beat, occasionally scraping the side of the bowl, until pale and fluffy -- 5 to 8 minutes. Beat in the yolks one at a time, and stir in the flour. Shape the dough into 4-1/2-inch-thick squares and wrap each in plastic. Chill for at least 45 minutes
Seems simple enough, however, when I made the dough, it came out super, super crumbly. Everything was going great until I added the flour. So, I tried to play around with it with my hands....that didn't work. It just didn't "stick", it was not like usual cookie dough.
Any ideas on what I did? What I can do next time?
I'm stumped!
As always, it was a pleasure!
Have an amazing holiday everyone!
~uaskigyrl
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12 Comments:
I would've added milk or another liquid, a tbsp or so at a time, until the dough came together.
KarynMC at 12:48PM on 12/22/08
My recommendation would be to start with less flour, too, and add more as you go along. Remember, you can always add more, but once you add it, you can't go back. That's a good rule for bread, too.
Traveller at 12:57PM on 12/22/08
I'm a bad girl. If my cookie dough is too crumbly (only happens with one cookie), I melt butter in my hands until the dough comes together. I agree with the funny cook from GA - you can never have too much butter. ;-)
Happy cookie baking!
PerkyMac at 1:18PM on 12/22/08
Take your time with the flour. Just eyeballing it sounds like way too much powder. I think you should taste the crumbly dough.
http://riceandwheat.wordpress.com/2008/01/06/spitzbuebe-swiss-christmas-cookies/
This recipe says 3-5 cups meaning you have to see and feel the dough for texture. Change the recipe and don't waste your time doctoring with water or milk. Baking is chemistry and if you change the formula you get something else as the end product.
This was not a cookie I would have given to someone newer to baking.
Try linzer cookies first. They are a very good rehearsal for this.
JerzeeTomato at 1:50PM on 12/22/08
@Jerzee, I'm reading that as 3 1/2 cups, not a range. In the recipe it says to add 1.5 cups of sugar (the ingredient list asks for 2 cups total) using the decimal, and that's got to be 1 1/2 cups rather than a range.
I think the OP used the recipe from Country Living. Whether it's a good recipe or not, it's hard to say. It could also be a measuring error with the flour, which is easy to do. Or the might have wanted sifted flour, rather than flour, sifted, which changes the measurements even more.
dbcurrie at 2:03PM on 12/22/08
I googled Spitzbuebe recipe and it seems like a lot call for much less in the way of dry ingredients.
You're showing a sugar-butter-flour ratio of:
4.16 : 1 : 4.66
I found one that matches the ratios in your recipe. But other recipes show these ratios of sugar to butter to flour:
2 : 0.75 : 3.5
1 : 0.5 : 2.33 (i.e., the same ratio of butter and flour as your recipe, but less than half of the sugar)
1 : 0.5 : 2.14
chgoeditor at 2:48PM on 12/22/08
oops typo the 3.5 cups is more of what I would add. Also eyeballing and feeling the dough. I agree the dry ingredients are a bit heavy on volume.
8 cups of dry ingredients will produce a dry dough. The recipe I posted is more of where I would start.
JerzeeTomato at 2:56PM on 12/22/08
^dbcurrie--I just Googled it, and you're right, it is the one from Country Living.
Is it just me, or does 1 stick of butter sound like very little in the way of a lipid for 4 2/3 cups flour, even with the 4 yolks?
I'd try a different recipe or chill it for much longer--like overnight.
HeartofGlass at 2:58PM on 12/22/08
Too much sugar, looks like. Here was a more balanced looking recipe:
http://riceandwheat.wordpress.com/2008/01/06/spitzbuebe-swiss-christmas-cookies/
ExpatChef at 5:18PM on 12/22/08
also, aside from all the measurements, if your dough is "too cold" it might not come together as well, let it warm from the touch of your hand for a minute of two.
Kaneez at 6:34PM on 12/22/08
I'm guessing it's too much powdered sugar, as chgoeditor alluded to. Here's a recipe from Saveur that has roughly the same ratio of eggs, flour and butter in relation to your recipe while having proportionately less sugar:
http://saveur.com/article/Food/Swiss-Raspberry-Preserve-Filled-Sandwich-Cookies
holdthemayo at 7:09PM on 12/22/08
It seems like a bit excessive about of flour. I would try adding in only as much is needed to keep the dough together and if you go a tad over, just add in some milk or a small amount of butter. It works for me, when I need to add some moisture.
FrostyGhost at 1:08PM on 12/23/08