Butterscotch Cookies

Kitty FloridoDecember 6, 2012

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This Butterscotch Cookies recipe is perfect to make ahead. Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in the holiday craziness between work, home, traffic (specially if you live just outside the city) that baking takes a second place. So, to avoid that, I like to make my cookie doughs ahead of time and freeze them.

Last year, I decided to start prepping for the holidays since mid November. This year I am a little behind, but tomorrow will be cookie dough making afternoon. I baked these delicious cookies on Christmas eve, in the early morning hours. To defrost them properly, I took them out of the freezer and into the fridge the night before.

Since they are still hard enough to make it slicing easy, I recommend turning the log on its side each time you slice. This will prevent you having cookies with a flat side. When I baked them, my entire house was smelling heavenly, a perfect way to start off Christmas eve!

Kitty

Butterscotch Cookies

Recipe by The Hungry Mouse
Yield: 36 Cookies

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoons salt
½ cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

Put the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Mix them together with a whisk to combine.
Put the shortening in the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl, if you’re using a hand-held mixer). Beat it on medium-high for a few minutes to fluff it up.
Scrape down the sides of your bowl with a spatula. Toss in the brown sugar. Beat the brown sugar and shortening together for a few minutes until well combined. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high to combine well.
Add in the flour mixture. Beat quickly to combine well. Stop mixing when the dough just comes together and all the flour is mixed in. If you beat it too long, it can make the dough tough.
Grab a piece of wax paper that’s maybe a foot-and-a-half long and set it on your counter.
Spoon the dough out into the center of the wax paper. With your hands, form it into a log that’s about 2 inches in diameter, give or take. Wrap the paper around the dough tightly and roll it up.
When it’s rolled up, twist the ends tightly. Pop it into the fridge for at least a few hours to firm up the dough.
After a few hours, your dough should be nice and firm. (If you don’t let it firm up, it will be really hard to slice.)
When you’re ready to bake, pre heat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Unwrap the dough and slice off as many cookies as you want to bake. Slice them about a quarter-of-an-inch thick or so.
Space the cookies out on your prepared sheet pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. You want the cookies to be just golden brown.
Let them cool on the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.