Book 115: The Pastry Queen | Sugar Saucers

by Rebecca Rather

These are called sugar saucers because they are as large as, you guessed it, a saucer - the plate, not the UFO, that I had imagined.

I was craving something sweet, and wanted something quick and easy. Aside from the hour chill time in the fridge (or fifteen minutes in the freezer) these fit the bill perfectly.

These are basically a sugar cookie. In addition to the normal ingredients of butter, granulated sugar, egg, vanilla, flour, baking soda and salt, this recipe also includes powdered sugar and canola oil.

After the dough has chilled, using a standard-size ice cream scoop (mine apparently is larger than standard - for I only got six cookies instead of twelve), the dough is dropped onto a cookie sheet about two inches apart. The dough is then flattened to about a quarter inch thick. I covered the ball of dough with a piece of parchment paper and used the bottom of a glass to flatten.

Whoa. Two cookies took up the whole sheet pan. Good thing I started out with the pan that had only two on it.

I had four on the first sheet pan. The dough was too soft to transfer, so I cut the parchment and lifted two of the cookies to another pan.

If you look closely, you can see the edge of the cookie peeking out - they are saucer sized! The finished cookies were six inches in diameter, giving me six cookies; as where the recipe states I should have gotten a dozen of four-inch cookies.

I decided to add some sugar to the tops before baking. I left two plain, two were sprinkled with granulated sugar, and two with demerara sugar. I actually liked them best without any sugar.

These cookies were crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. Perfect in by book. And they seemed to get better with each passing day. 

Being these were so huge, I cut them up shortbread style. These would be a great addition to a potluck - or better yet, even a sit down dinner - put the cookies in the middle of the table and let your guests just break off a piece; there is just something fun, to eating such a big cookie.

 amazon

Sugar Saucers

1 dozen 4-inch cookies or

2 dozen 2-inch cookies

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp

½ cup vegetable oil, such as canola or sunflower

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup powdered sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, or silicone mats, or grease generously with butter or cooking spray.

Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter in a large bowl on medium speed about 1 minute. One ingredient at a time, add the vegetable oil, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, egg, and vanilla, beating on medium speed after each addition until completely incorporated. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt all at once, using a wooden spoon or the mixer set on low. (The dough will be soft.) Refrigerate the dough about 1 hour or freeze for 15 minutes to make it easier to handle.

Using a standard-size ice cream scoop for giant cookies, or a tablespoon-size scoop for 2-inchers, drop the dough, two inches apart, onto the prepared baking sheets. Press the dough evenly with your fingers or palm to flatten the cookies to ¼-inch thickness.

Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes for small cookies or 12 to 14 for larger ones, until the edges turn golden. If you like your cookies on the crisp side, bake them for 1 to 2 minutes longer. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets at least 10 minutes before transferring to racks to cool completely.

The cookies will keep for up to 3 days if stored in an airtight container, or they can be frozen for up to 1 month.

The Pastry Queen/Rebecca Rather