Help Me With Rolled Cookie Techniques

[blazedog]

I don't seem to have much luck with my rolled cookies -- I am a klutz - the batter sticks - I have trouble getting the dough to be an even depth and so on.

I would love to master this. Do you have any specific techniques or equipment that you find essential or very useful.

I just saw a Silpat counter mat for rolling things and I was wondering if that would be helpful so that I don't wind up using a bag of flour on the counter -- a no no I know :)

I am using a rolling pan from Lord knows when -- probably acquired at a yard sale in college. I would be willing to spring for a new one -- any recommendations in terms of brands or what I should be looking for. Some seem to come with levels to help you with the depth. Are marble ones good or just for show?

Thanks in advance.

[HealthyinMN]

I received this as a gift - I use it all the time and love it for stuff like this.

http://images.meredith.com/bhg/images/products/p_cs_82044.jpg

Here is their product description

Our "SMART" rolling pin really is just that!
With its adjustable rings, you can easily
roll out your dough to the exact thickness
you choose. Whether you want 1/8" for
things such as pie dough, 1/4" thick for
puff pastries, or 3/8" thick for biscuits,
you simply slide on the appropriate rings
and start rolling. You get perfect thickness
everytime. Of course, you also can use it
as a regular rolling pin without the rings.
The barrel is about 13" long and 2" diameter.

[emily]

I roll out dough a lot. I don't use a silpat, but that may help you. The most important thing I've found is to continually lift your dough and give it a quarter turn to make sure it's not sticking on the bottom. I really like the French rolling pins

http://www.surlatable.com/images/products/full/rollpintprd_6085a.jpg

But I also use the ones with handles a lot. I wouldn't recommend a marble rolling pin because of the weight of it. Just keep your dough well chilled (although not crumbly) and you can chill your counter top by placing a sheet pan of ice on it for 15 minutes or so before you begin rolling. I dust with flour by grabbing a bit and then shaking my hand over the area where I'll be rolling. Yes, you end up with flour all over the counter, but it's easy to wipe up.

Em

[funniegrrl]

I have a marble rolling pin, and it is great for the reason that it stays cool (like a marble/stone counter top), which is good for pastries & cookies. However, it is VERY heavy, which makes using it a little more work AND it's easy to accidentally roll things too thin.

I've moved to using a french rolling pin most of the time -- just plain wood, no handles -- that I got at Bed Bath & Beyond. Just be sure to season it well with food-grade mineral oil to minimize sticking.

Other hints when rolling cookies is make sure the dough is well chilled -- do it in batches, keeping the waiting portions in the fridge -- and use powdered sugar instead of flour for dusting.

[madpots]

I have my grandmother's rolling pin and it is heavy. When I roll cookies I have found that 2 12-inch rulers are about 1/4" thick and I put them on either side of my dough to roll it even.
I also like to roll my dough onto wax paper and chill before cutting the cookies.

[lsquire]

I also recommend trying powdered sugar instead of flour for rolling out the dough - it might make the cookies a little sweeter, but reduces the chance of extra flour making the dough tough.

Good luck - I am still trying to master this as well.

[Sheila in MD]

Originally posted by madpots
I also like to roll my dough onto wax paper and chill before cutting the cookies.

Me too! I roll it out between two sheets of wax paper (very little added flour really...I use just a bit to get it started...)and then freeze the rolled out sheets of dough (with the wax paper). Take one out of the freezer (they freeze quickly-in minutes as opposed to hours...)and carefully peel off the wax paper on one side. Once it is peeled, put it back on and flip the dough over. Peel off the other sheet of paper and cut the cookies....they will easily remove from the bottom layer. They are also really easy to move to the cookies sheets as they should still be pretty stiff. A nice thing about this technique is that the scraps don't get tough since you are using such a small amount of flour to roll them out.

Sheila in MD

[SandyM]

I think, like anything else, it comes with practice. I haven't mastered the art of home-made pie crusts because they weren't (and really, still aren't) a priority for me. My mom's rolled Christmas cookies were a huge priority - it wouldn't be Christmas without them - so I went through a batch or twelve of really thick, tough cookies, or really thin, overdone cookies, to finally get the "feel" of it.

My mom had an extra wooden rolling pin that I use, and I love it. It has the handles on the side, and it's incredibly comfortable for me.

Yeah, I get flour all over the counter (and floor, and me ;) ) but I'm a clean-as-I-go kind of person, so it isn't that bad.

[gertdog]

I have seen the rolling pin rings sold separately too- I think in the King Arthur catalog.

My trouble with rolled cookies is that I can never transfer the cutout cookies to the pan w/o them becoming misshapen. So now I roll on a sheet of parchment, cut out the cookies, peel away the extra dough, and place the whole sheet of parchment onto the pan for baking. I just read a tip somewhere that you can also peel away the extra dough, then use scissors to cut the parchment paper around the cookies so that you can easily transfer each cookie intact to the baking sheet, still on its own little piece of parchment. This method lets you space the cookies more evenly on the sheet, I guess.

I wonder about the Silpat rolling mat- the care instructions that came with my Silpat baking pan liners said I shouldn't cut on them, so I wonder about using cookie cutters on the rolling mat.

I find it easiest to roll dough that is somewhere between chilled and room temp. I can always chill the cutout cookies before baking to prevent them from spreading too much.

[madpots]

gertdog, I think if you try rolling your dough on sheets and chilling it before cutting you will find that you won't have any trouble getting the cookie in tact on the pan. This is "Joy of Cooking" method and it works for me. I have a plastic container that holds the sheets and I sometimes freeze the dough to bake later.
Trial and error over many years of cookie making!