Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

This Valentine’s Day, whisper “I love you” with a plateful of just-baked cookies. If you’re an experienced cook, share your knowledge and a cookie-baking afternoon with a young cook. Or if you’re a new cook, let’s decode a simple but delicious cookie recipe step by step. Why this? Why that? The answers are here.

Cookie recipes call for butter warmed to room temperature so it will mix more evenly; just leave a stick on the counter for two to three hours. Unsalted butter allows control over how much salt is added; to use salted butter, no problem, just omit the added salt. Slightly warm eggs capture more air, resulting in lighter cookies. Always fluff flour before measuring; otherwise you’ll use more than needed and risk tough baked goods. Small grains of ‘table salt’ (every-day salt, not kosher or sea salt) distribute evenly throughout cookie dough.

Cookies baked in the middle of an oven benefit from even heat distribution. It takes an oven 10-15 minutes to ‘preheat’ and reach the optimal baking temperature. In this recipe, the ‘dry’ ingredients are flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and table salt. When dry ingredients are lightly mixed beforehand, it’s easier to not overmix the dough, which can cause toughness. Leaving space between the dough balls prevents the cookies from touching as they spread while baking. A time range, versus a specific number of minutes, allows for variations in oven temperatures and other conditions. Check the cookies after 8 minutes, if they’re done, proceed; if not, bake another minute or two til done.