Makes about 40 cookies

Be sure that the cookie dough is well chilled and firm so that it can be uniformly sliced.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Having slice-and-bake cookie dough in the refrigerator or freezer is great, because you can bake whenever the mood strikes. But because these simple cookie recipes have so few basic ingredients, imperfections are impossible to hide. With too much flour, the cookies are crisp but dry and bland; go overboard with butter, sugar, or egg and the cookies are rich but soft and misshapen. We set out to create a slice-and-bake cookie recipe that would combine both crispness and rich butter and vanilla flavor—in effect, shortbread shaped into a convenient slice-and-bake log. Using both granulated sugar and light brown sugar gave the cookies a richness and complexity that tasters liked. We used the food processor to combine our recipe ingredients quickly without whipping in too much air—our Orange-Poppy Seed Slice-and-Bake Cookies had the dense shortbread-like texture we were after.

MAKES 30 COOKIES

The almonds will continue to toast while the biscotti bake, so toast the nuts only until they are just fragrant.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
We wanted biscotti that were hard and crunchy, but not hard to eat, and bold in flavor. To keep the crumb hard, we used just a small amount of butter (4 tablespoons), and to keep the biscotti from being too hard, we ground some of the nuts to a fine meal, which helped minimize gluten development in the crumb. To ensure bold flavor in a biscuit that gets baked twice, we increased the quantities of aromatic ingredients.

MAKES 32 COOKIES

If the dough gathers into a cohesive mass around the blade in the food processor workbowl, you have overprocessed it. Make sure to stop processing at the point where the mixture is separate and pebbly. If at any point during the cutting and rolling of the crescents the sheet of dough softens and becomes impossible to roll, slide it onto a baking pan and freeze it until it is firm enough to handle. Once the crescents are baking in the oven, start checking them for doneness at eighteen or nineteen minutes, especially those on the top-level rack. Feel free to substitute an equal quantity of chopped pitted prunes, chopped dried apricots, dried currants, dried cherries, or dried cranberries for the raisins in the filling.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
On the way to a rugelach recipe that gave us tender cookies with a bounteous filling, we discovered that freezing the circles of rolled-out dough before applying the filling gave our baked cookies the flakiest, most delicate texture. For the best filling for our rugelach recipe, we processed the preserves briefly in the food processor to break up larger pieces of fruit, which tend to spill out during baking. We chopped the nuts very fine and added them to the filling last, so they would block seepage.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Any flavor of jam can be used for this recipe; we found seedless jams work best. For best results, bake only one sheet of cookies at a time.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: Including cream cheese in the cookie dough gave it a welcome richness. When making the impression for the jam, we made sure to wet our fingers before touching the dough. Re-indenting the dough balls after baking them for a few minutes prevented the indentation from disappearing during baking.

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/bake-it-better/2012/11/secrets-to-jam-thumbprint-cookies/

MAKES SIXTEEN 4-INCH COOKIES

We like these cookies made with pecans and dried sour cherries, but walnuts or skinned hazelnuts can be substituted for the pecans, and dried cranberries for the cherries. Quick oats used in place of the old-fashioned oats will yield a cookie with slightly less chewiness. If your baking sheets are smaller than the ones described in the recipe, bake the cookies in three batches instead of two. These cookies keep for 4 to 5 days stored in an airtight container or zipper-lock plastic bag, but they will lose their crisp exterior and become uniformly chewy after a day or so.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

If the dough becomes soft when slicing the cookies, return it to the refrigerator until firm.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

If you can’t find superfine sugar in the supermarket, simply process 1 cup granulated sugar in a food processor for about 30 seconds, then measure out ¾ cup for the recipe. The dough scraps can be patted together, chilled, and rerolled one time only. For best results, be sure to bake the cookies one sheet at a time.

MAKES 2 DOZEN COOKIES

The final dough will be slightly softer than most cookie dough. For the best results, handle the dough as briefly and gently as possible when shaping the cookies. Overworking the dough will result in flatter cookies.

Makes 2 Dozen Cookies

The most efficient way to bake these cookies is to portion and bake half of the dough. While the first batch is in the oven, the remaining dough can be prepared for baking. Avoid using a nonstick skillet to brown the butter. The dark color of the nonstick coating makes it difficult to gauge when the butter is sufficiently browned. Use fresh brown sugar, as older (read: harder and drier) brown sugar will make the cookies too dry.

THIRTY 3-INCH COOKIES

If you plan to decorate your gingerbread cookies and make ornaments out of them, follow the related recipe for Thin, Crisp Gingerbread Cookies. Because flour is not added during rolling, dough scraps can be rolled and cut as many times as necessary Don’t overbake the cookies or they will be dry. Store soft gingerbread in a wide, shallow airtight container or tin with a sheet of parchment or waxed paper between each cookie layer. These cookies are best eaten within one week. If you make gingerbread people, this recipe will make about twenty 3-inch people.