Baking cookies are part of the Christmas tradition. With many recipes to choose from, here's a version of a quick recipe that's a good choice when baking with the kids.
Some of the easiest cookies to bake are the drop cookies because they just require mixing of ingredients without the kneading, rolling, cutting, or chilling the dough. The dough is soft and flattens out as it bakes, so the bigger the mound dropped on your cookie sheet the more it spreads and the flatter the cookie becomes. This may over bake the edges while under baking the middle.
Many cookies fit into the drop cookie category, but this version of a basic recipe is one that with a little creativity, you can make your own.
What You’ll Need
- 1/2 cup butter (or margarine)
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup flour (all purpose)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
Step By Step Directions
- Preheat oven to 375
- In large mixing bowl beat butter with electric mixer on medium/high for approximately thirty seconds.
- Add half of the flour and all remaining ingredients. Beat until all ingredients completely combined.
- Beat in remaining flour.
- Drop by teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheet at least two inches apart.
- Bake for 8 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
- Let cool for one minute before removing from cookie sheet
A Few Things to Keep in Mind
- For the holiday, let the kids decorate the cookies with icing (you can get icing brushes) and sprinkles. You can create a color palette for them to “paint” their own Christmas pictures.
- Drop cookies should be placed on cooled baking sheets because they bake so quickly. Two cookie sheets will come in handy. Also, make sure not to leave cookies on hot cookie sheets as they will continue to bake.
- If dough is too soft you can chill batter or carefully add a little more flour until desired consistency. As with most cookie recipes, avoid overmixing.
- To make the cookies less rich, add only 1/4 butter along with 1/4 shortening. This change will allow cookie to rise more before spreading. For a sweeter cookie add another 1/4 brown sugar to the recipe. More sugar may cause the cookies to spread a little bit more but it may be a little softer so your taste buds probably won’t mind.
- A fun addition to the basic is to add approximately one cup of sliced gumdrops to the final mixture before baking. Other add-ins are cinnamon with raisins or chopped pecans.
- Softening butter makes it easier to mix smoothly but when the butter is too soft or watery, this may cause a flatter (deflated) cookie. To compensate, opt for a higher ratio of brown sugar to white sugar and bake until just turning brown.
Visit the Recipe Goldmine for more drop cookie recipes. Also try these Easy No Bake Christmas Cookies. For the holidays and beyond, if you like baking, here are some general cookie tips
The copyright of the article Brown Sugar Drop Cookies in Pies/Cookies/Squares is owned by Nina Guilbeau. Permission to republish Brown Sugar Drop Cookies in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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