If you like old-fashioned sugar cookies, but hate to roll them out, you might want to try this recipe. It produces large, beautiful cookies with crackled tops that are a match for those found in the finest bakeries. There are several schools of thought regarding the chemistry that causes the tops of these cookies to crater. Some insist that it is caused by the carbon dioxide that is released when baking soda is mixed with cream of tartar. Others believe the surface of the cookies burst because the low-moisture dough with which they are made allows their exteriors to harden and dry before the interiors of the cookies have finished expanding. Yet another group believes that the sugar in which the cookies are rolled absorbs moisture that dries out their exteriors, causing cracks when the leavening agents in the dough continue to expand as the cookies bake. I have volunteered to be a taste tester for any further experimentation that might be done. Until then, I'll happily continue to make these cookies without giving much thought to why the tops crack and crater. I hope you'll follow my lead. This is a terrific cookie that I know you will enjoy. Here's the recipe.

Crackly Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cups sugar

1 cup butter, softened

3 large egg yolks, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two baking sheets.

2) Cream sugar and butter together until light.  Beat in yolks and vanilla.

3) Sift together the measured sifted flour, baking soda and cream of tartar then fold into the butter sugar mixture.

4) Form dough into walnut size balls. Place 2" apart on the cookie sheets. Do not flatten.

5) Bake for about 11 minutes until tops are cracked and just turning color. Cool on cookie sheet 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to complete cooling. Yield: 3 dozen cookies.

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