Tips From the Cookie Queens - Grandparents.com

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Molly O'Neill is our Food Editor. She is the former food columnist for The New York Times Magazine. O'Neill is the author of three cookbooks, including the best-selling New York Cookbook (Workman Publishing, 1992), A Well Seasoned Appetite (Penguin, 1997), and The Pleasure of Your Company (Viking, 1997). She was the host of the PBS series Great Food, and edited the critically acclaimed anthology American Food Writing (Library of America, 2007). Her latest work, Mostly True: A Memoir of Family, Food, and Baseball (Scribner, 2006), recounts her childhood of growing up in a Major-League baseball family.

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by Molly O'Neill

- When making sugar cookies and other delicate cookies, handle the dough as little as possible.

- Precise measures are very important: fill the appropriate spoon or cup and the use the back of a knife to level off.

- Never add all the flour at once to cookie dough. Add one-quarter cup at a time.

- Work very little with butter cookie dough to avoid over-handling it.

- Butter cookie dough should always be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for at least an hour before using. This makes the dough easier to handle.

- Baking parchment or nonstick trays can be used instead of butter and make clean-up easier.

- When rolling, place the dough on a floured surface and cover with plastic wrap, or place between two sheets of plastic wrap for best results.

- All cookies freeze well and can be made up to a month in advance. Pack in plastic, separating each layer with parchment or wax paper and cover well.

- Children over 7 years old can combine and mix pre-measured ingredients.

- Children over 3 years old can help grease the cookie sheets, help roll logs of dough in sprinkles, and place the cookies on the sheets.

- Children of all ages can decorate the cookies with sprinkles or edible paint.