Sugar Cookies 101-How to Make Amazing Cookies
Have I told you lately that I love you! Because of you, I’ve got an amazing job. It lets me travel to places like Salt Lake City, Utah to a magical place called Cookie Con! In case you didn’t know, I was an instructor this year where I taught a class about cookie fundamentals or as I call it “Bearfoot Basics”. I know life happens and stops us from doing the things we want to do. I don’t think we should let it stop us from going over the Bearfoot Basics Sugar Cookies 101 together.
In case a “busy life” made you miss it, I’ve come up with a way to share the class with you. I’ve turned the slide presentation into a series of videos so you can be a part of it with us. Now, the class is long so we are going to break it down into a few different videos. The first is called “Sugar Cookies 101.” It’ll show you the video about things I’ve learned through the years.
Just like I promised those of you who took my class in Utah, here’s the class so you can keep it at your fingertips. I added a few things like a video clip on how to remove the cookie dough from the Flexible Cutting Mats and how to get a nice flat surface on your cookies. I’ll be adding a little more than I did in the Cookie Con class because we’ll have a little more time to cover more issues. If you have a question, email me and I’ll do my best to find the answer for you.
As we all know, royal icing can be a little difficult to work with. Don’t you wish there was one magical tip that would fix all of our issues? We’re going to do our best to take the mystery out of some common problems and offer a few solutions so stay tuned for more videos coming soon!
Sugar Cookies 101-How to Make Amazing Cookies Every Time
You may want to grab some milk and cookies because this video is a little longer than the ones I normally make.
If you ever need access to the Bearfoot Basics, just look under the “Tips” tab on the menu bar. It’ll show you exactly what you need!
Don’t forget to check back soon and see the other videos in the series I’m sure you’ll find something helpful. If you think a friend will like this video or wants to bake, share it with them! 😉
Bearfoot Basics Sugar Cookies 101 Part 2
Bearfoot Basics Sugar Cookies 101 Part 3
Bear hugs,
Wow what a great learning lesson!!! Love the new series Lisa, thank you!
Glad you like it Dora! I have a few more new things on the way! 😉
HUGS!!!
It never hurts to re-visit “Basics” no matter how long I’ve been cookie-ing. Thanks, Lisa for clear, concise instructions. I’ll never get to Cookie Con and I appreciate you bringing the class to me!
Blessings, Donna B.
Your welcome Donna! Let me know if I can ever help with anything!
You’ve convinced me…I’m going to Walmart and picking up an oven thermometer. Thanks to you, Lisa, I started weighing my ingredients and discovered my measuring cups were off by as much as 1/4 cup!
Love the new series….can’t wait for the next one. 🙂
Hi Janis,
WOW! A fourth of a cup? That’s a lot! Having a scale takes all of the guess work out of it and helps to make perfect cookies every time.
Bear hugs,
Lisa
Loved it. Thank you so much for a great learning video. Sometimes it’s all about the basics. Many thanks? Rita.
Your welcome Rita! Being good at the basics helps us bake good fresh cookies without stressing over it! Let me know if you ever need anything! I’m here to help!
Hugs!!!!
Thanks Lisa, I have never baked cookies before and have slowly been purchasing everything I need over the past few weeks and am just waiting on my new Kitchenaid mixer to arrive before I bake my first batch. I have found your “Basics” video invaluable.
Much appreciated, Bev
Sounds like your going to get a new Kitchenaid Mixer and a lot less sleep! LOL Once you start baking you will never sleep again!
Let me know if you ever need anything. I’m always here to help!
Lisa
Lisa, you are amazing! Thank you for all you do to help us become better bakers. I have taken your advise in weighing ingredients and it really does make a big difference. The first time I did it, I went to the internet and did the conversions for the different ingredients. Then, I baked with what it “should” be and learned I was WAY off! What an eye opener!
I have the cutting mats and love them. The other thing I do is put my flour in a nylon stocking and gently pat it on my hand, I find it puts a fine layer of flour and not a heavy pour. It works for me.
One thing I can not live without- my Silicone Bowls! They bend enough to get the flour in the mixer without making a big mess! I love them! Worth the $25!
Thank you for your wisdom and for taking the time to share it with us! You are amazing!
Thank you for sharing with us… I am looking forward to the next video 🙂
Hi Karyn,
I’m glad weighing the flour works for you. It really makes things easier.
I don’t have silicone bowls! I might have to that. Anything I can do to make less of a mess sounds grate to me! Thanks for the tip!!
Lisa, THANKS for this lessen!!! Even though I have been baking & decorating cookies for 3 years, I did learn a few things from your “Basics!” I only wish I would have seen this video when I first started out. It took me a lot of trial and error to find the equipment that worked the best for me and to tweak a recipe.
I follow a lot of baking blogs and ALWAYS read the reviews before I make a recipe. It never fails, 1/2 the reviews are from disappointed people that the recipe did not work out. I wind up emailing the person who wrote the recipe asking how she measures her dry ingredients. I also do this when I buy a cookbook.
You will be amazed at how people measure their ingredients!!! There was a Cream Cheese Cookie Recipe that I was dying to try and the creator of the recipe sent me a link to a video showing how she measure her ingredients. She scooped the flour out of the sack with her 1 cup GLASS measuring cup and shook off the excess until it was level! There was NO WAY I could duplicate the amount of flour she used!!! It was significantly more than a 1 cup dry measure!!!
I wish EVERYONE used a scale and measured their ingredients! It would make baking so much easier!! Did you know that Ina Garten Scoops her dry ingredients and Martha Stewart lightly spoons hers. So confusing……
I did get a oven thermometer several years ago after having my oven serviced for calibration. The technician told me that “non-commercial” ovens are NEVER precise and will NEVER heat at the right temperature all the time! I noticed this with my oven over the years. The temperature is always off a few degrees. Also, those oven thermometers lose their calibration after being tossed around in a kitchen drawer and should be stored in a secure place.
Looking forward to your next lessen.
I would like to be a pro cookie baker i how do i get started ?
Great cookie tutorial! Thank you for sharing. I LOVE the tip about the rolling the dough out on cutting mats. You can find those at the dollar store. Thanks again for the wonderful video.
Hi Patti! Thank you! Someone at Cookie Con told us to look at the Dollar Tree. I’m going to swing by there today and see if I can find them! I’ll let everyone know what I find.
Lisa, Thanks for the video lesson! No matter how many dozens of cookie I’ve baked…your lesson was a great refresher and I picked up some tips. The fondant smoother is a great idea to make sure I have that perfect canvas for my decorating. I look forward to the next lesson! Kim
Glad you liked it Kim! I’ll be posting the next one very soon! 😉
Let me share a little insight and something I’ve learned the hard way! Hopefully it can and will help someone else.
I was told, by a VERY reputable cookie artist, that I should leave my butter out over-night and use it the next morning. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT do this!!!! I seriously thought something was wrong with my recipe (that I have been using for a long, long time). I even changed recipes. It was THAT bad! I have followed Lisa’s advice, and only leave my butter out for 1 hour prior to using it.
If you leave it out too long, your cookies will spread like crazy!!! And there is NO going back and fixing them!
I know that sometimes it’s just “easier” to set it out the night before, especially if you cook really early in the mornings, like I do most of the time, but PLEASE follow the advice given. Either get up a little earlier, set out your butter, do a few chores (not laundry tho….no one wants to do laundry THAT early, or at any other time of the day really??) set a timer for an hour and get to cooking! You will see a HUGE difference in your Cookies. They will hold shape perfectly!
Lisa, I cannot express to you how thankful I am for your blog. You have seriously taught me so much! I like to give credit where credit is due, and you certainly deserve the credit for me being where I am today and for the success I have achieved this far!
I used to read more blogs than I can count! I have now narrowed it down to 3! Yours, Pams, and LilaLoa. You three are AMAZING!
Thanks for all you do for your “fans”, for all the tips and for making me laugh! ???