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Hi...........  I am new here and hope this is the right spot to get some assistance.

In the past I have made my own dough for sugar cookies to roll and cut the shapes.  I have never had a problem but it has been years since I have done so due to working so much.  Now I have more time on my hands and have gone back to baking.  I decided to use the Pillsbury sugar cookies to get back in practice.  The packaging says they can be rolled and cut.  The problem is when I bake they they do not retain their shapes very definitively and spread out - ALL of them.  What am I doing wrong OR is this dough not really the right stuff to use for rolled and cut cookies?

• My dough is ice cold when I work with it and is returned to fridge if it starts to get warmer
  


• I use a pastry cloth to roll on with very little flour


• My rolling pin is covered and uses very little flour


• I use 1/4" rolling pin rings and coolings are the same height


• Nothing sticks


• Cutters are dipped in flour


• Cutters are likewise size


• Cookie sheet is cold (room temperature), aluminum, and has a sheet of parchment paper on it

I had originally made some without using a pastry cloth and covering the rolling pin and the dough took on way too much flour and effected the taste of the cookies VERY noticeably.  They were a mess to work with!  They didn't run as much with the extra flour but the taste was not as good!

Any advise????  Thanks in advance!

Hi cutedoggie: 

Welcome to the site! Sorry to read you're having trouble with the cookies. I added these to our Flickr page... Please let me know if this helps with your next batch. If not, I'll get the kitchens involved. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pillsburyrecipes/sets/72157623351041986/

Sincerely, Cate

Cate - aka MOD,

AH JEEZ...........  Adding more flour is what I wanted to avoid as it affects the taste of the cookies.  The more flour the more the cookies start tasting pasty.

Are there any alternatives?  Is there someone I can talk to??????  I don't want pasty cookies.  If there are no alternatives then perhaps Pillsbury should make a roll out cookie dough specifically for rolling out and quit saying these are true roll out cookie dough!!

cutedoggie:

Cate - aka MOD,

AH JEEZ...........  Adding more flour is what I wanted to avoid as it affects the taste of the cookies.  The more flour the more the cookies start tasting pasty.

Are there any alternatives?  Is there someone I can talk to??????  I don't want pasty cookies.  If there are no alternatives then perhaps Pillsbury should make a roll out cookie dough specifically for rolling out and quit saying these are true roll out cookie dough!!

So I talked to the Kitchens about your response. With our product, you need to add additional flour to get that clean cut out cookie instead of the spreading that is typical with the cookie dough. Have you played around with scratch recipes like this one? 

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/give-a-hand-cookies/df04cb6b-ff97-41c6-876d-c13a2f6165c1

Sincerely, Cate

This is NOT good!  Adding flour really alters the taste of the cookies.  Isn't this something PB should be addressing???

I couldn't really tell from the small pics you posted but was that 1/2 cup of flour to the work surface for one package of dough? 

Are there any other options besides using the other recipe or adding flour to make pasty cookies?  My friend has a limited schedule and using premade dough was a life saver for her.

What about the packages you mix up?  Are they going to have the same problem?

We want to decorate the cookies so having them misshappened will not look good with decorations.

Thanks!

The Pillsbury kitchens say to add ¼ cup of flour to the chub dough if you’re making roll-out cookies.  It’s not that much, and shouldn’t alter the taste.  The directions for rolled cookies are printed on the tube of cookie dough.  Have you tried adding the ¼ cup of flour in a batch?

For the Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix... here is the response from the kitchens: 

How detailed are the cookie cutters that you're using? That may help to hide the fact that it is spreading slightly so that you could go down in flour to get a nice looking cookie without affecting the flavor.
 
For the BC cookie pouch we usually add about 2 tbsp flour to get that perfect consistency for a roll out cookie. The products are really meant for drop cookies first (that’s why it is the primary recipe on the packge) then the addition of a small amount of flour helps to thicken the dough enough to allow for a roll out cookie.
 
You also said that the flour you're is adding is affecting the taste…  how old is the flour? If it has been in the cupboard for a few years maybe that is the problem. 
 
 Here are a few recipe ideas that might help if you are using the cookie mix:
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/holiday-cookie-ornaments/fd7033c9-29db-4c96-9bca-09a9404533fd

 
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/snowman-star-cutouts/55481c24-106e-41b5-abcc-e58d9d78a3d7

 
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/starlight-sugar-cookies/89ff17af-5bb0-4f50-91e7-6b708076478f

Sincerely, Cate
  

Cate,

Thanks for the information. 

We have all sorts of cutters that we use - my friend and I.  Some of them are tiny and intricate while others are larger and plain like just a round circle.  These cutters just cut the outside of the dough.  A dough that doesn't run as much would be appropriate for these cutters. 

Then we have cookie presses where you cut the outside shape of the dough and then press designs or other detail into the top of the dough.  Some of those cutters are spring loaded while others are in two pieces.  I suspect that the less butter (running) and less leavening agent (loss of top detail) type of dough is going to be the best for these type of cookies but the big question is what to use to mass produce cookies without having to make the dough from scratch.

Any assistance to either type would be great!  I think the package mix might work for the regular roll and cut cookies as long as the extra flour doesn't alter the taste.  I like the idea of just adding the small amout to the mix as opposed to the package of prepared dough.

Thanks!

BTW, the flour we used was fresh and came right off the grocer's shelf and was opened up for this use!  It was a retail grocery store where the flour was purchased and not a discount store.

Pillsbury,

I've been trying for years to obtain clean shapes using the Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough roll, with no luck. I tried your "trick" adding the flour, but still all I wound up with is "baloons". I seriously think there is something wrong with this product.

Now for grins I purchased the Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix for cutout cookies, adding the flour as suggested. This actually worked. I wound up with perfect shapes.

- Steve