Cookie Dough that doesn't expand when cooked.

[gofes]

Hello

I brought these cookie cutters

http://www.suck.uk.com/products/3d-dinosaur-cookie-cutters/

Now I'm after suggestions as to what biscuit too cook. I guess it would have to be something that doesn't rise or expand too much when you cook it.

I guess a gingerbread would work, but does anyone have any other suggestions.

I also hear that freezing the dough first stops it expanding too much, is this a thing?

[Baselerd]

I think one option would be to roll your cookie batter thin.

[heidih]

Sugar cookies and most of the ones in the "ice box cookie" genre would fit I think.

[annabelle]

Definitely sugar cookies or gingerbread. Shortbread can be cut, as well, but it is fragile to handle.

Try to find a recipe that doesn't have leavening like baking powder or very many eggs.

A lot of Scandinavian cookies are crisp and don't rise, either. They are also not very sweet and keep for a long time in a tin.

[Lisa Shock]

There are cookie doughs designed to be used with cutters. They do not contain leavening. Professional Baking has a good all-purpose cookie dough that can be flavored different ways, it's called 'Short Dough for Cookies' page 441 of the 4th edition. I cannot imagine that it's been changed much in more recent editions.

[Mjx]

Corollary to the preceding post: leave out the leavening in whatever recipe you normally use; they'll still rise a bit, but very little (I've done this).

[Smithy]

Those are charming cookie cutters! I think I like the safari set best, but they're all fun.

MJX: do you mean, for instance, that I could make crisp chocolate chip cookies by leaving out the baking soda? Not sure I'd want to, especially in the case of chocolate chip cookies, but it would be a handy thing to know.

[andiesenji]

This recipe for my "Cocoa Cookies" which is a very old recipe that I brought up to date 20+ years ago and have made them hundreds of times.

They do not expand when baked. They should be rolled fairly thin. They will puff slightly during baking but flatten as soon as they cool.

I roll the dough right on a sheet of parchment, use the cutters and pull the scraps away, slide the parchment onto a sheet pan and bake.

This way you don't have to handle the raw dough and possibly misshape it.

I have made quite intricate cookies (snowflakes) and used kitchen tweezers to lift out the small pieces.

You can rework and roll the scraps and the dough will not get tough.

But it is ESSENTIAL that the dough is refrigerated for a MINIMUM of 12 hours and longer is better. I usually make up several batches of various cookie doughs a few days before I am going to bake them.

I always make this dough up ONE WEEK prior to when I want to process and bake the cookies off.

[Mjx]

Those are charming cookie cutters! I think I like the safari set best, but they're all fun.

MJX: do you mean, for instance, that I could make crisp chocolate chip cookies by leaving out the baking soda? Not sure I'd want to, especially in the case of chocolate chip cookies, but it would be a handy thing to know.

Leaving out the leavening doesn't make for a crisper cookie, just a flatter, slightly denser one (i.e. particularly suited to being handled a good deal while being decorated).

[SylviaLovegren]

This recipe for my "Cocoa Cookies" which is a very old recipe that I brought up to date 20+ years ago and have made them hundreds of times.

These sound wonderful. If I can get organized enough to make dough a week in advance of baking, will definitely try them!

[andiesenji]

I don't bake as much as I used to - when I was still working I took loads of cookies to work to share with the 11 other workers and the three other doctors who share our suite of offices.

I had a "production schedule" where I spent one day measuring out all the dry ingredients, nuts, dry fruits, choc or other chips, coconut, etc., for several batches, bagged in Ziplock baggies which went into a jumbo baggie along with a printout of the recipe.

Then when I was ready I would spend a day measuring the wet ingredients and mixing the doughs which was quick and easy because all the time-consuming measuring had been done.

Then another day to bake them off. I did that for years making at least a dozen varieties, often many more. Organization is the key.

And most important, you don't find yourself in the middle of a recipe WITHOUT a critical ingredient.

[SylviaLovegren]

I don't bake as much as I used to - when I was still working I took loads of cookies to work to share with the 11 other workers and the three other doctors who share our suite of offices.

I had a "production schedule" where I spent one day measuring out all the dry ingredients, nuts, dry fruits, choc or other chips, coconut, etc., for several batches, bagged in Ziplock baggies which went into a jumbo baggie along with a printout of the recipe.

Then when I was ready I would spend a day measuring the wet ingredients and mixing the doughs which was quick and easy because all the time-consuming measuring had been done.

Then another day to bake them off. I did that for years making at least a dozen varieties, often many more. Organization is the key.

And most important, you don't find yourself in the middle of a recipe WITHOUT a critical ingredient.

My husband thinks I'm organized. He obviously hasn't met you!

[emmalish]

Thanks for that link, andiesenji! I'm on the lookout right now for some rolled cookie recipes to try (besides gingerbread and sugar cookies). I'll give this one a shot within the next month or so.

[quantumcloud509]

I don't bake as much as I used to - when I was still working I took loads of cookies to work to share with the 11 other workers and the three other doctors who share our suite of offices.

I had a "production schedule" where I spent one day measuring out all the dry ingredients, nuts, dry fruits, choc or other chips, coconut, etc., for several batches, bagged in Ziplock baggies which went into a jumbo baggie along with a printout of the recipe.

Then when I was ready I would spend a day measuring the wet ingredients and mixing the doughs which was quick and easy because all the time-consuming measuring had been done.

Then another day to bake them off. I did that for years making at least a dozen varieties, often many more. Organization is the key.

And most important, you don't find yourself in the middle of a recipe WITHOUT a critical ingredient.

If there was one thing I could train myself to do, that would be it. So little time, so much to do. *sigh*