This is the season - baking time! And a cookie that's become incredibly popular because of how pretty they can be, is the crisp or rolled cookie.

Crisp or rolled cookies are made from a stiff dough which is rolled with a rolling pin and cut with sharp cookie cutters, a knife, or a pastry wheel. They should be thin and crisp. But they don't always turn out that way. Here's what you need to know for your rolled cookies to bake up just the way you want 'em:

•  First, it is usually best to work with a small amount of dough at a time. Chill the dough if it is too soft to handle easily. The dough should be chilled for 15 to 30 minutes before rolling, which will prevent the dough from sticking to your rolling pin. Roll out only one portion of the dough at a time to prevent the dough from drying out. Keep unused portions in the refrigerator until needed.

•  If you use plastic cookie cutters, they should be dipped in warm vegetable oil while you are working. You will get a cleaner, more defined edge on the patterns you're cutting out.

•  If your particular rolled cookie recipe is meant to be tender and not crisp, use as little flour as possible when rolling out the dough. Save all the dough trimmings and roll at one time (these cookies will be less tender but still tasty). And here's a super sugar cookie tip: They will not get stiff or tough if you roll them in sugar instead of flour. Who knew?

•  OR, you can roll the chilled dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper or wax paper. When the dough is your desired thickness, remove the top sheet and begin cutting.

•  Make all your cuts at once, then lift each cookie up and onto your cookie sheet using either a wide spatula or a metal offset spatula. Dip your spatula in sugar between cookie lifts (from counter to baking sheet). This prevents the dough from sticking to the spatula and you won't need to peel away the dough with your fingers.

After they're baked, you will want to store your rolled cookies in a container with a tight-fitting cover.

•  And one last tip - this time for decorating: To keep sparkling sugar on unfrosted rolled cookies, make a "paint" of egg white and water (1 egg white and 1/4 teaspoon water). Paint the UNBAKED cookies with this colorless paint. Then sprinkle the sugars right onto the cookie tops. This egg white paint holds all sugar in place nicely. Bake cookies according to recipe instructions.

Sources:
www.sacchef.wordpress.com
www.reynoldskitchens.com
www.livelovepasta.com
www.flickr.com
www.chezpei.com
www.kosherblog.net