cutting sticky cookie dough

I have posted this question in a couple of other forums and hope that this is not a problem--I need help! I like to make pepparkakor, a Swedish spice cookie. My recipes call for quite a bit of corn syrup and molasses. They also offer 2 options for baking: either form the dough into logs and cut into slices after chilling, or roll the dough out and cut into shapes. Either way I choose, I have misshapen cookies because the dough is so sticky. If I roll it into logs, even after freezing the dough is sticky and somewhat fluid when I cut it. If I roll it out, even though I flour the surface, the rolling pin, and the cookie cutters the dough sticks, again resulting in a misshapen (though tasty) cookie. Any helpful comments are greatly appreciated!

[momoreg]

One thing you can try is cold water, either on your knife or cutter. If that doesn'twork, try oil. Also, roll out small amounts, and freeze them already rolled out between parchment paper. If your piece is too big, it will soften before you finish cutting all the dough. If none of this works, perhaps you should consider adding a bit more flour to the dough.

Welcome Helen! This is a trick I use with very moist cinnamon roll doughs and sometimes wet peppernut cookie dough. Roll it out and chill the dough, then cut it using oiled thread. Just pull the thread under the roll, and wrap it around until it cuts through. The cookies will actuallt be round when cutthis way! (Don't chill cinnamon roll dough, just cookie dough) Good luck!

[momoreg]

Yeah, good one!

[mudbug]

Helen,

There are very few recipes that call for BOTH molasses and corn syrup together. The most common is to use just molasses (corn syrup is often a substitute for molasses). This in and of itself might be a big factor.

If you want to try your recipe again, try chilling the dough overnight in the refrigerator instead of the freezer. A majority of pepparkakor recipes call for this step.

I agree with the others. Work in small amounts - even as much as 10-15 minutes for dough you can't get to right away will warm to where you'd need to chill it again for it to be firm enough to work with. Roll the dough out on parchement paper and cut out your shapes - you can peel the paper off the bottom instead of peeling the dough up. Try a serrated knife - like a bread knife. Try the oiled thread, dental floss, or a wire cheese cutter.

If all else fails, try another recipe!

Pepparkakor

Passed on through generations, this recipe belonged to Maroline Megard's grandmother who was born in Sweden in 1865. (North Texas Metroplex Branch #8222, Fort Worth, Texas)

1 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons dark corn syrup
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves

In large mixer bowl combine butter and sugar. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed (2 to 3 minutes). Beat in egg and corn syrup. In small bowl combine water and baking soda; add to butter mixture. Add all remaining ingredients; beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed (2 to 3 minutes). Cover; chill dough until firm enough to handle.

Heat oven to 375°. Roll out dough, half at time, on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheets. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool.

5 to 6 dozen cookies

from: http://www.luthbro.com/potluck/Recip...tm#Pepparkakor

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Pepparkakor

1/2 cup butter -- at room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup light molasses or dark corn syrup
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cream milk or water

Melted white chocolate or Royal Icing, for decoration

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and baking soda together until the mixture is smooth. Blend in the flour and cream to make a stiff dough. Chill at least 30 minutes or until firm. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 to 1/16-inch thickness and cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. (The thinner you roll the dough, the crispier the cookies will be).

Place about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned. Slide cookies and parchment off the baking sheet onto the countertop to cool. Dip cooled cookies into melted white chocolate to decorate, or decorate with Royal Icing.

Yield: about 4 dozen

Royal Icing:
1 pound (3-3/4 cups) powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
1 to 2 large egg whites, or substitute 4 teaspoons packaged egg whites and 1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon almond extract, vanilla or lemon juice

Mix all of the ingredients together using an electric hand mixer, until the icing is smooth and thin enough to be pressed through a pastry bag with a writing tip. Add more lemon juice, if necessary.

from: http://www.ajlc.waterloo.on.ca/Recip...gh,Pepparkakor

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Pepparkakor

These are the gingersnaps that are ubiquitous in Sweden around Yule. It takes a lot of time to bake out all the dough.

This is a two-day recipe! 150 pieces
Oven temperature: 200C (375-400F) for 5-10 minutes.
Watch them closely, they get burnt very easily!

300 millilitre (1 1/4 cup) sugar
100 millilitre (1/2 cup) water
50 millilitre (scant 1/4 cup) treacle (molasses)
7 millilitre (1 1/2 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
7 millilitre (1 1/2 teaspoon) ground ginger
7 millilitre (1 1/2 teaspoon) ground cloves
200 grammes (3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
(Optional: 30 millilitre (2 tablespoons) brandy)
1000 millilitre (4 1/2 cups) wheatflour (not selfraising)
10 millilitre (2 teaspoons) bicarbonate (=baking soda)

Bring sugar, water, treacle (molasses) and spices to a boil. Let cool. Add fat little by little (and brandy, if used). Stir vigorously. Add flour mixed with bicarbonate. Work the dough quickly and let it rest in the refridgerator till the next day.

Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1-2 millimeter. If it's too dry you can add up to 1/4 cup more water. If you let the dough get too warm, it will stick to the roll. This is best done on the non-stick paper.

Punch out the desired forms with cooky cutters and carefully remove the remaining dough. Bake. Repeat until no dough remains.

Dough can be stored for at least a week in an airtight container in the refridgerator. No adverse effects are reported from eating moderate amounts of dough. Traditional shapes of cooky cutters are: woman, man, heart, pig. Other common shapes include: goat, star, spruce, circle. Let the gingersnaps dry and cool for an hour or so before storing them in airtight containers. They are usually served as they are but the can be decorated with white icing. Common decorations include adding more "realistic" detail to shapes such as pigs. New ideas would be to make five-pointed stars and inscribe a pentagram or to make circles and inscribe them with an equal-armed cross.

Wishing on pepparkakor
Place a heartshaped pepparkaka in the palm of your hand. Firmly knock on it once with the knuckle of your other hand. If it breaks into exactly three pieces, you can wish on the pepparkaka. It's important that you make your wish silently and not tell anyone about it, or it won't work.

from: http://sacredwell.virtualave.net/htm...lerecipes.html

Dental floss works well also for cutting cinnamon rolls and rolled cookie dough.

Dental floss works well also for cutting cinnamon rolls and rolled cookie dough.