You know how you’re not supposed to use too much flour when rolling out cookies? And if you do, you’re rewarded with a nice floury mouthful of yeerrk! when you bite into the cookie? We have a new solution: roll out cookie dough with powdered sugar instead of flour.
We came across this tip in a cut-out cookie recipe we made recently and had to pause for a moment to appreciate its sheer simplicity - and obviousness. This neatly avoids the whole problem of caked-on flour after rolling out cookie dough. No one’s going to complain if there’s a little extra powdered sugar on the bottom of their cookie.
We haven’t tried it yet, but we’re also curious if this trick could also be used for rolling out pie crust. We’re always worried about incorporating too much flour, and this would help put our minds at ease.
We’re looking forward to many baking successes using this tip!
Related: Simple Solutions: How to Make a Quick Sugar Icing
(Image: Flickr member YoAmes licensed under Creative Commons)
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My mom and grandmother have done this for as long as I can remember. It really is great, the only warning is that if you re-roll the dough more than once, it gets very crispy and browns quickly due to the sugar you have added in the rolling. I have never tried powdered sugar with a pie crust... interesting idea though!
I made Halloween cutout cookies back in October using a Alton Brown recipe that called for doing just that: using powdered sugar to roll out the dough. Normally I struggle with sugar cookie dough but the powdered sugar made the rolling out and subsequent cutting and lifting seem that much easier in addition to a better tasting cookie. This was one recipe I saved for future use.
I'm also a fan of rolling out between plastic wrap -- I'm already using it to wrap and chill the dough anyway, and it can be easier to get the cookies up. For extra OCDness, I place two 1/4" pieces of wood on the counter on either side of the dough and use a straight (not tapered) rolling pin, so the cookies are a consistent thickness.
use cocoa powder if the cookies are a chocolate variety! also great for "flouring" cake pans when you don't want white streaks on your chocolate cake :)
Done this for years and works great.
With the recpie I use, I tend to not deal with too much sticking so a tiny bit of flour is all I used. Like PAErin said, I'd be worried about it burning. If I'm in a rush, out comes the wax paper!
I have always skipped the roll out cookies because they were a pain in the... until another blogger said to roll between two sheets of parchment paper and then refrigerate. I did exactly this, and then a few hours later I cut out all of my cookies. I did several batches in one day, and it worked wonders! I used the parchment paper over and over and then wiped it clean and saved it for later! The best thing was that if I couldn't get it off the parchment, I could just bake it on the parchment! Now I have about 5 dozen cookies in the freezer waiting for our decorating party!
I've heard the using powdered sugar thing before. The only problem for me is I strongly dislike the taste of powdered sugar. I go the wax paper route myself.
(so I guess I'm one person who would complain about too much powdered sugar on the bottom of my cookie. heh)
This technique works great for me and is the only way I can seem to get a decent yield from a batch of springerle dough! Powdered sugar works wonders IN the dough (vs. granulated sugar), helps with rolling out the dough, and also dusting the mold before pressing the springerle mold onto the dough. Each cookie, going at lightning speed, takes 3 minutes to imprint & transfer to a cookie sheet and I'd be lost without the confectioner's sugar and a Silpat non-stick baking mat.
This seems absolutely brilliant!
This is one of those things that seems so logical yet it has never crossed my mind, thanks!
My mother's kiffle recipe always called for rolling out in powdered sugar. The dough has no sugar (just butter, cream cheese, eggs and just enough flour to hold it together). Aside from the nut/date/fig filling, rolling it out in powdered sugar is what gives it sweetness. Also gives the finished cookies a little crackly sweet glaze. Mmmmmm... kiffles... Too bad the dough's such a bear to work! :)
I usually use parchment paper or plastic wrap as well. Sometimes I like a bit of floury powder on the bottom of my cookie though - is that weird? It's like the cornmeal on the bottom of an English muffin (my favorite half)!
Works great, but I find it a hassle to clean up...
Yeah, I feel like the sugar could burn when baking. So that would be a worry.
Cereal bags work great for rolling stuff out on (or between). If you carefully open them along the seams, you can use it. They are slick enough so that stuff doesn't stick badly. They are sturdy enough to not get mangled while rolling. Plus, you were just going to toss it anyway.