The recipe calls for 1 and ¾ sticks unsalted butter, 1 large egg yolk, 2 tablespoons of water, and the bag of mix. Super simple, super easy. Just how I like it.
I softened the butter by microwaving the sticks on power level 2 for a minute, turning them over, then again on power level 3 for a minute, but twice on 2 should work fine (it really depends on the microwave—mine’s possessed). I separated the yolk from 2 eggs, since I would be needing 2 egg whites for my icing later on. The extra yolk, cooked, works great as a distracter for any dogs under your feet as well.
It is important you follow the speed instructions on the cookie mix bag. If you have an electric stand mixer like me, use the flat beater attachment until you start to add the cookie mix. Once I added the first ½ cup of cookie mix (as the bag suggests), I switched to the dough hook which worked swimmingly. The final mixing, however, must be done by hand. This isn’t a big deal for me because I’ve always believed dough mixed by hand is better and produces a better product. Regardless, the dough was a bit crumbly so I added an extra tablespoon of water.
At this point, I formed the dough into two balls like the recipe on the bag states, covered in plastic wrap, and then “rolled” with a tall, cylindrical glass (but a rolling pin would obviously be better) the dough into a ¼ inch patty which I then cut into cookies with the glass as well. The glass works great if you’re also trying to minimize dishes (which I’m always out to do in the name of water conservation and maximizing counter space when cooking).
After Beau stole one of my ready-to-bake perfectly round cookies, I had only 15 cookies, but they turned out great. As with the vast majority of gluten-free products on the market, you couldn’t even tell it wasn’t made with wheat flour.
The icing? Let’s not go there. I’ll just say that Martha Stewart’s recipe was WAY off and that I had to add an extra POUND of confectioner’s sugar to overcome the inexplicable amount of water the recipe calls for. If you make her royal icing for sugar cookies, be sure to add water TABLESPOONS at a time instead of dumping in ½ cup of water all at once. In short, I give Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Shortbread Cookie Mix 5/5.
