If you aren’t the type of person who enjoys working in the kitchen and you would rather just buy your vegan cookies pre-made, there are plenty of sources online.  You can also find vegan cookies in most health food stores; usually, their labels will mention the word “vegan” so you know that they are free from any animal products.

However, if you love baking, vegan cookies are easy and fun to make.  They aren’t nearly as complicated as you might think; in fact, most vegan cookies are just as simple to make as other types of cookies.  Vegan cookies even give you the added benefit of being able to sample the dough since it doesn’t contain any potentially harmful raw eggs!

Vegan cookie recipes are very easy to find online.  If you know the type of cookie that you would like to make, doing an internet search for that type of cookie will yield plenty of resources.  For example, if you’re looking for a recipe for vegan oatmeal raisin cookies, you’d simply perform an internet search for “vegan oatmeal raisin cookies recipe” (with the quotes) and pick the one that looks best from the list of results.

Substituting Vegan Ingredients

If you’d like to convert your favorite cookie recipe into a vegan recipe, it’s easier to do than you might think!  There are lots of products available today that make vegan cooking simple.  Powdered egg replacers are one of the greatest vegan baking tools.  Powdered egg replacers consist of a fine powder that gives vegan cookies the same qualities that eggs impart in other cookies.

If you don’t want to use egg replacers or can’t find them where you live, mashed tofu, mashed banana, pureed prunes, applesauce, flax meal, and arrowroot powder are all used as very effective egg substitutes.  There are different formulas for replacing eggs with any of these methods, and different substitutes are appropriate for different vegan cookies.  The best way to figure out how to use each one is to get a vegan baking cookbook that uses some of the different methods, then experiment with the recipes.

Substituting vegan ingredients for milk in vegan cookie recipes is not difficult at all.  Soy milk, rice milk, or almond milk are all readily available in the supermarket and can be used just like dairy milk.  You can also try substitutes like coconut milk, fruit juice, and water, as well as other liquids, to see what works for you.

For the butter that is usually present in cookies, vegan cookies use vegetable oil, vegetable shortening, or dairy-free margarine.  Again, these methods all have different results and are more effective in some recipes than in others.  Generally, dairy-free margarine gives the most reliable results that are closest to those that you would get with butter.  However, some recipes really shine when they are made with vegetable oil.  Experimentation is the key to outstanding vegan cookies.

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Baking is as much a way of life as it is stress therapy. At the same time veganism is a lifestyle and a philosophy. Going vegan means that you are being conscious of being in harmony with nature, and the daily changes which is flowing and occurring with them

Just because you’re a vegan does not mean that you won’t get to eat a lot of your favorite things. Don’t you worry because it’s still possible to eat desserts and baked goods like cakes, cookies, brownies, muffins, and pancakes.

The common obstacle when it comes to vegan baking is how to substitute eggs, butter and milk. Aside from substitution problems there’s also the taste issue, most substitutes don’t taste like the real thing. A substitute generally diminishes or can’t compare to the real thing.

No worries, this article will give you a vegan cookie recipe to help you ease into vegan baking; and to show you that you can enjoy food even when you’re a vegan.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Vegan Cookie Recipe

This chewy chocolate chip vegan cookie recipe is chewy and brownie like. Don’t worry if you think 10 minutes is too short a time for baking, it really is not. The utensils you will use for this vegan cookie recipe are: cookie sheets, or a baking sheet, blender, 2 large bowls, and a spatula.

The ingredients of this chewy chocolate chip vegan cookie recipe are the following: ¾ cup canola oil, 2 cups sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, 1tbsp pus 1 tsp whole flax seeds, ½ cup soymilk, 2 cups all purpose flour, ¾ cup vegan chocolate powder, 1tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt, and 1cup vegan chocolate chips.

After preparing all the ingredients, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Celsius. Grind the flax seeds in the blender until they are completely powdered, add the soymilk and blend them again for 30 seconds. In a large bowl, sift the cocoa together with the flour, baking soda, and salt, 3 times.

In a separate bowl cream together sugar and oil; afterwards add the soymilk and flax seed mixture plus the vanilla. Fold in the sifted dry ingredients by batches, when you feel that the dough is getting a bit stiff to use the spatula use your hands, and continue mixing until the mixture forms into dough, add the vegan chocolate chips. (Don’t over mix, or else your cookie will become a bit dry and tough)

Take a tablespoon of the dough and roll it in your hands, then flatten into a disk and place on an ungreased cookie sheet (make sure they are about an inch apart). Bake for 10 minutes, when done place the cookies in a rack and let cool for 5 minutes.  
 
A note to the wise: Flax seeds are an egg substitute, and canola oil is used instead of butter. Vegan chocolate can be found in vegan and health foods store. They are also available on line. Happy baking and enjoy this chewy chocolate chip vegan cookie recipe 

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Treat your friends to a taste of your baking skills this holiday season with a recipe that yields delicious cookies and lasting friendships. Host a cookie exchange party. These festive swaps offer a time-saving way to share an assortment of baked-from-scratch treats.

Just invite eight to 12 friends and ask them to bring six dozen of their favorite holiday cookies. At the swap, exchange cookies to end up with a variety of six dozen new cookies.

The Secret to Cookie Success

“Reynolds Parchment Paper is my simple step to better baking for cookie exchanges,” advises Robin Olson, celebrated cookie exchange hostess and pioneer of the modern cookie swap. “Lining my pans with parchment paper ensures my cookies bake evenly and slide off the cookie sheet. I also use parchment paper to roll dough and stencil decorations. It’s my tool to keep cookie baking fuss-free.”

For more how-to’s on hosting a successful cookie exchange party, consider these tips from Olson:
* Timing is everything. Choose a convenient date and time, perhaps a weekend morning. Limit the party to two to three hours.

* The more the merrier. Eight to 12 guests provide a nice assortment of cookies.

* Bake six dozen. Instead of asking each guest to bring a dozen cookies for each attendee, pick a quantity that won’t change with each RSVP. I usually ask each guest to bring six dozen cookies.

*Variety rules. To ensure guests don’t all show up with gingerbread men, ask what type of cookie they will be bringing when they RSVP. If a guest wants to bring a cookie that’s already on the RSVP list, help her think of an alternate.

* Make your favorite at home. Ask guests to e-mail their cookie recipes to you in advance. This way, you can print off copies to hand out at the exchange so partygoers can make more at home.

When it comes to baking cookies for the exchange, Olson offers this time-saving advice:
* Roll dough with ease. Roll cookie dough between two lightly floured sheets of parchment paper to prevent sticking and to keep work surfaces clean.

* Speed up cookie baking. Arrange cookie dough on sheets of parchment paper and slide parchment onto the cookie sheet when it’s time to bake. When a batch comes out of the oven, simply swap out the sheets of parchment so there’s no waiting between batches.

* Line pans for brownies or bar cookies. Turn the pan upside down and press a sheet of parchment paper over the inverted pan. Remove the parchment paper, flip the pan over and drop the parchment paper liner inside, pressing folds in corners to fit liner inside pan. Spread batter in parchment-lined pan and bake as directed. When the brownies or bar cookies are cool, lift them by the parchment paper from the pan onto a cutting board. Fold back the edges of the parchment paper and cut into bars.

* Stack cookies with ease. To transport cookies to and from the party, place a piece of parchment paper between layers of cookies. This protects decorations and prevents cookies from sticking to each other.

For more cookie exchange tips and cookie exchange recipes, visit www.ReynoldsSimpleSecrets.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Minttens
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Makes: 1 dozen sets of MinttensIngredients:

Reynolds Parchment Paper
Your favorite sugar cookie recipe or mix
Red and green paste food colors
1 1/3 cups mint flavored baking chips
2 egg whites
Ribbon

Directions:

* Line 2 cookie sheets with Reynolds Parchment Paper; set aside.

* Prepare your favorite recipe for sugar cookies. Halve dough and tint with food colors.

* Preheat oven following recipe. Roll out dough 1/8-inch thick between 2 lightly floured parchment paper sheets.

* Cut out 48 cookies with a mitten cookie cutter. Place 12 cookies 1-inch apart on parchment-lined cookie sheets. Use mini cookie cutters to cut out decorations.

* Melt mint baking chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Spread melted mint chips over cookies on the cookie sheets. Top each with another cookie cut-out. Place mini decorations on cookies. (To hold decorations in place, brush underside with egg white beaten with a little water.) Repeat with remaining cutout cookies.

* Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; immediately make a small hole in each mintten with a straw. Slide parchment with cookies onto a wire rack to cool. Tie two cookies together with ribbon.

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Holiday entertaining without some scrumptious baked goods would be like Santa sans beard. Is it any wonder that government studies show the average American packs on about two pounds – and some as much as seven – over the winter?

It makes sense to try to lighten your holiday meals and many Americans are doing just that. But while it’s relatively easy to trim fats by serving your family turkey breast instead of the leg, or substituting skim milk for whole in your mashed potatoes, even the most dedicated fat-cutter can be flumoxed by holiday baking.

Fat is an essential ingredient in baking everything from pumpkin pie crusts to holiday cookies. It contributes flavor and facilitates the baking process. It’s added to baked goods in the form of butter, shortening, margarine or vegetable oil. Unfortunately, many of the man-made fats commonly used in American baking raise cholesterol levels and contain dangerous trans fats thanks to the hydrogenation process.

However, a growing number of holiday bakers are discovering a healthful alternative, one that both eliminates trans fats and adds a powerful punch of antioxidants and other nutrients: palm oil. While palm oil shares or exceeds the health benefits of other alternative oils like olive or canola, unlike those oils, palm works well in baked goods.

“Because palm oil is naturally a semi-solid at room temperature, it can be substituted in baking for other less healthful oils and shortenings that contain trans fats,” says Salleh Kassim of the American Palm Oil Council. “Not only does it work well in baking, palm oil increases good cholestorol (HDL) more than any other food ingredient. Increased HDL is associated with decreased risk of heart disease, and cancels out increased risk associated with elevated bad cholesterol (LDL). Palm oil also contains powerful antioxidants like tocotrienols, beta-carotene, and vitamins A and E. Other shortenings used in baking simply don’t measure up nutritionally to palm oil.”

Anyone who’s ever tried to substitute olive or another kind of oil for the shortening, butter or margarine required in many Christmas cookie recipes knows the sad results: batter that oozes or runs, cookies that never form properly and are either gummy, oily or dry, and an “off flavor” caused by the strong taste of the substitute oil. Cakes, breads and other confections can be equally disasterous with the wrong substitutions.

Palm oil’s unique semi-solid consistency and chemical makeup, however, actually enhances the texture of baked goods. It delivers the plasticity needed to enable the baker to repeatedly roll and knead dough, as well as the aeration that makes your cookies crumble perfectly, cakes light and fluffy, and breads fresh and tasty. It is virtually flavorless, so it doesn’t overpower the flavors of the other ingredients. Palm oil also melts at higher temperatures, meaning it doesn’t melt too quickly and ruin the batter before it’s cooked through.

To substitute palm oil in your favorite holiday baking recipe, simply use a one-to-one ratio. If the recipe calls for 1 cup of shortening, use 1 cup of palm oil. Be sure to purchase the original form of palm oil, which is white and resembles shortening, rather than liquid red palm. The liquid form is better used in other cooking, like frying.

By using palm oil, you can cut trans fats and eliminate hydrogenated oils and shortenings in recipes for cakes, cookies, breads, puff pastries and even candy. And because palm oil is very stable, you can store it at room temperature for many months and it won’t go rancid – even when you heat it for baking.

Palm oil can be found at Whole Foods Markets and other specialty food stores. Visit www.wholefoodsmarkets.com to find a store near you. To learn more about the benefits of palm oil, or to find a list of distributors in your area, visit www.americanpalmoil.com or call (877) ASK-PALM (275-7256).

Try this holiday-friendly cookie recipe, courtesy of Whole Foods Market, to see how palm oil performs in holiday baking:

Ginger Palm Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup natural vegetable shortening from palm oil
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
1 egg
2 cups unbleached white flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger (minced, crystallized ginger can also be added for extra ginger bite)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup natural turbinado sugar (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large mixing bowl, blend the palm shortening with the brown sugar and molasses. Whisk in the egg. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Add this mixture to the liquid ingredients, stirring carefully to fully combine. You may wish to gather the dough in your hands to continue mixing as the dough is a little stiff.

Form 48 rounded teaspoons of dough. If desired, roll in the turbinado sugar. Place the dough rounds onto cookie sheets spacing about 1 inch apart. Gently press down with finger tips since these cookies do not spread.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on sheet for five minutes. Continue cooling on wire racks. The cookies get crispier as they cool. Store the cookies in an air-tight container.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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(ARA) – The holiday baking frenzy is in full swing. Get out your measuring cups and a mixing bowl — with a few helpful tips and these fool-proof recipes, your baking endeavors are sure to be a delicious success.

Award-winning pastry chef Mindy Segal, owner of HotChocolate restaurant in Chicago, shares her favorite holiday recipe for Gingersnap Cookies. Five different spices, including a pinch of pepper and a generous dose of ginger, give these buttery little cookies a flavorful kick.

Coffee lovers will enjoy the Whole-Wheat Caramel Lattes. This thumbprint cookie has a rich dough with hints of coffee, a caramel filling and is topped with a chocolate-covered coffee bean.

Before the baking begins, here are some tips to help deliver tasty results:

* Baking is a science; the more accurate your ingredient measurements, the better your end product.

* Never use spreads or margarine to replace butter in a recipe. Spreads contain less fat and more water than butter and will not perform the same.

* Keep your cookie dough chilled in between baking batches. Only work with one small piece of dough at a time; keep remaining dough in the refrigerator.

* Prevent cookies from sticking to baking sheets by covering sheets with a layer of parchment paper or greasing the sheet with butter.

* Cookies turn out best when the dough is placed on cool cookie sheets.

* Store soft cookies in a container with a tight lid, and crisp cookies in a container with a loose lid.

Visit www.ButterIsBest.com for more baking tips and delicious holiday cookie recipes made with real butter. Here are some tasty recipes you may want to try:

* Gingersnap Cookies (Makes 4 dozen cookies)
by Chef Mindy Segal

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 3/4 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1/2 cup sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, cream butter and dark brown sugar; add molasses and beat until blended. Add egg and mix until combined.

Combine flour, baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon and ginger, cloves, nutmeg and pepper in a separate bowl; add to butter mixture and mix well.

In a small bowl, combine remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar. Shape dough into 1-inch balls, then roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture. Place dough on parchment-lined cookie sheets.

Bake 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Store cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to one week.

* Whole Wheat Caramel Lattes (Makes 3 dozen cookies)

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup café mocha instant coffee crystals
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
18 caramels
1 tablespoon heavy cream
42 chocolate-covered coffee beans

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and instant coffee crystals together until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until blended. Combine flours in a separate bowl and add to butter mixture; mix well.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls, and place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined cookie sheets. Press thumb into cookie center. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until cookies begin to brown. Cool completely on a wire rack.

In a small saucepan over low heat, heat caramels and cream; stirring frequently. Using a teaspoon, drop melted caramel into each thumbprint, placing a chocolate-covered coffee bean on caramel immediately.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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(ARA) – The holiday season is a special time for family and friends to gather, and home-baked desserts have always had a place at the table. According to a Baker’s Joy Homemade Holiday survey, more than 75 percent of Americans are planning to bake more this year compared to years past.

But before you break out the sugar and cookie sheets, take a look at these baking and storage tips to make sure your homemade holiday treats will leave family members smiling all season long:

* When baking two sheets of cookies at once, place them on different racks at different angles to allow proper air circulation. Switch racks half way through cooking time to ensure even heat distribution and baking.

* Cookies are less likely to burn if they are baked on a light-colored metal cookie sheet versus a dark metal sheet.

* For soft-baked cookies that have started to dry out, re-soften by adding a slice of apple or a piece of bread to the container where they are kept.

* When rolling out cookies, use powdered sugar instead of flour. The sugar will add sweetness and you won’t have to worry about adding too much flour.

* Experiment beyond the usual holiday gingerbread. Surprise your family this year with a premium dessert; and nothing says gourmet like premium chocolate. With more than 50 percent of American adults preferring chocolate to other flavors, these delectable surprises are sure to become a new holiday tradition.

Chocolate cookies will bring joy to not only your family, but this season they can also bring hope, strength and joy to children diagnosed with life-threatening medical conditions. The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company is helping the Make-A-Wish Foundation grant wishes through a $100,000 contribution. Consumers can show their support for the Ghirardelli Make-A-Wish program by baking with Ghirardelli chocolate and visiting www.Ghirardelli.com.

Want to bake delicious chocolate cookies and give back to the community? Try this easy recipe, created by 2004 James Beard Foundation Pastry Chef of the year, Emily Luchetti.

Ghirardelli’s Wish Star Chocolate Cookie

Shortbread:
2 cups flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 bar (4 ounces) Ghirardelli 60 percent Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt

Dipping:
1 bag (11.5 ounces) Ghirardelli 60 percent Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
1 tablespoon butter

Melt baking bar on double boiler and set aside. Mix flour and salt together and set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add melted chocolate and vanilla. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture and mix just until blended. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour.

Heat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured board, roll dough to 3/8-inch thick and cut with cookie cutters. If the dough is very soft, chill again for at least 30 minutes. Bake for seven to nine minutes. Cool completely in pan.

Melt chocolate chips with one tablespoon of butter in a double boiler. Dip cooled cookie in melted chocolate mixture and let chocolate set. Makes about one dozen cookies.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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(NC)-”Get the kids involved in preparing this easy dessert. The principle is simple: just alternate layers of cookies, fresh cheese mixture and fruits. A pleasure to make as well as enjoy!” ~ Hélène Laurendeau, TV host and nutritionist.

6 lady fingers 6

cookies

1 cup fresh cheese 250 mL

(quark cheese)

1/2 cup cream 15% 125 mL

2 tbsp honey 30 mL

1 tsp lemon peel 5 mL

40 Ontario 40

Coronation

Table grapes, de-stemmed

Break each cookie in 4 to 5 pieces.

In bowl, whisk fresh cheese, cream, honey and lemon peel.

Prepare trifles: place 3 to 4 pieces of cookie in the bottom of a desert cup, cover with a small amount of fresh cheese mixture and add 5 fresh grapes. Repeat to obtain a second layer.

TIP: Place in refrigerator for a few hours to soften cookies. It tastes even better.

Serves 4.

Source: www.ontariotenderfruit.com: Developed by Hélène Laurendeau

Fact: Grapes are the largest fruit crop in the world with 72 million tons produced every year.

Credit: www.newscanada.com

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This is a contest for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe on the planet.  Many people have tried to recreate this age old classic of gooey chocolate and scrumptious cookie but only a few have actually gotten it right.  Every single cookbook you look into will have a version of this popular American favorite.  A contest is now being held to find the absolute best chocolate chip cookie recipe on the planet. 

So gather your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and your grandmother’s favorite too and come on down and show the world whose chocolate chip cookie recipe is the best. The winner will receive a lifetime supply of the ingredients needed to make these special cookies, as well as their chocolate chip cookie recipe published in the new cookbook, “The Best Recipes on the Planet”.  The winner will also receive world wide acclaim because, after all who could be more famous that the person that came up with the world’s best chocolate chip cookie recipe?

Required Ingredients

Even though this chocolate chip cookie recipe must be your own, the basic ingredients are required.  There must be the dry ingredients, which includes the all purpose flour, the baking soda and, of course, the universal ingredient to all dishes…the salt.  Everyone must also have the sugars.  The white granulated sugar is a must, along with the super sweet brown sugar.  It is your choice whether you use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar. 

Super soft butter is always a very important ingredient and can be added as fat free or margarine or Crisco.  Eggs…well that is pretty self explanatory.  Do not forget to add the vanilla.  Vanilla may seem like a useless ingredient but it will make or break the cookie regardless of what ever else is added into it.  Last, but not least, you must use chocolate chips!  What chocolate chip cookie recipe would be complete without them?  It does not matter what flavor of chocolate chips are used because in today’s world there are many different flavors of chocolate chips to choose from.

Originality

There is one other very important rule that must be followed.  The chocolate chip cookie recipe must be original.  The recipe on the back of the chocolate chip cookie bag is not acceptable. Anyone can make that recipe in fact; it is the same chocolate chip cookie recipe that is included in the “Cooking for Dummies Cookbook”.  Your recipe must include some sort of secret ingredient to make it different from the rest.  Good luck and may the best cookie win!

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Sugar cookies are versatile, easy to make and are perhaps the most popular cookie on the planet! The first sugar cookie recipe can be traced back to the mid 18th century and has gone through a number of transformations over the years. Snickerdoodles, a delectable variation of the sugar cookie, has hints of cinnamon and is just one of many of these forms.

Why Sugar Cookie Ingredients Make a Difference

You would think that one sugar cookie recipe is rather close in ingredients and preparation as another. However, nothing could be farther from the truth and is the reason why many people stick with their “tried and true” sugar cookie recipe that was handed down from grandma. It can be quite mind-boggling sifting through hundreds of recipes for sugar cookies on the internet or even through your cookbooks.

The primary ingredient sugar is not cut and dried when it comes to a sugar cookie recipe. You could use the regular granulated white sugar; however there are super fine granulated sugar versions that could be incorporated into a recipe and even brown sugar, a southern favorite. The flavoring extract often used in a sugar cookie recipe is vanilla, but you could substitute it for almond extract or even butter extract for a totally new taste.

Even the binding part (the ingredients that make the flour and sugar stick together) of any sugar cookie recipe can be vastly different. Some recipes use lard while other recipes use vegetable shortening, butter or a combination of all of them. Butter is typically used with most recipes to give the sugar cookie a nice flavor. If the sugar cookie recipe calls for lard in addition to the butter, you can expect the cookie to be crisp and delightfully crumby. However, if the recipe used vegetable shortening with the butter, you can expect a crisp, yet chewy cookie instead.

Your Sugar Cookie Recipe Options

Practically everyone has had a sugar cookie in some form or another. Therefore, by deciding the type of sugar cookie you want, you could greatly reduce the number of recipes you may weed through in finding just the right one. For instance, there are sugar cookie recipes for cut-outs as well as drop cookies, refrigerator cookies and even cookies from a mold or press.

A drop sugar cookie recipe is rather quick and easy with you just “dropping” the dough by spoonfuls on a baking sheet. A refrigerator cookie involves you refrigerating the dough, sometimes rolling it into a log shape so that it is easy to cut slices for baking. Sugar cookie cutouts involve rolling out the dough onto a floured cutting board and using cookie cutters to make shapes. With a press or mold, the dough is conformed into a certain shape.

The bottom line is that each sugar cookie recipe will produce a slightly different cookie. The only thing that should always stay the same is how you bake it. Always use a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper covering it as this not only keeps cookies from sticking, but you will rarely have a problem with burning your cookies.

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