Cookie Day - 500 of them! Use the Bosch Mixer?

The calm before the storm

No, not Christmas cookies, and not a bunch of different kinds...500 round sugar cookies for a wedding on Saturday.  The bride and her mother liked so much the way the cupcakes were decorated for the bridal shower, they decided to ask for something similar, but in a cookie version, for the wedding reception.  They were going to have several people bake cookies, then have me come to the church the morning of the wedding to decorate them.  But I have no idea how long that would take, so I asked if my baking crew might just bake the cookies here at home and I could decorate them the day before...So if it takes 2 hours, or 14 hours, it will work out.  I didn't know when I made that request, that my baking crew would be off in the big city shopping with Princess Bossy today, crucial baking day.  But that's OK, she is only here until Sunday and it's great they're spending special time with her.  Prince CuddleBunny and I will just have a special day of our own, dedicated to baking.  Might be easier that way.


Because I was on my own to do the mixing, I decided to try using my Bosch mixer, usually used only for bread in our house, to make the double batches of cookie dough.  According to the cookbook that came with it, there are special 'cookie paddles,' but mine came only with 'batter whisks,' which the manual also says works for cookie dough, so I hooked them up and started in.

The mixer and the whisks did a great job, I think creaming the butter and sugar together.  I had to be sure to use the splash guard to keep the bits of flying butter in the bowl.  When I added the eggs, some of the mixture tried to stay on the column instead of mixing in, but a simple scrape took care of that.  It ceased to be a problem at all when I added the dry ingredients, as there was enough bulk and movement to draw everything in.



The mixer, overall, did a good job at mixing the cookie dough thoroughly.  It started to complain a little with the addition of the last cup of flour (#6), 
when the dough got pretty heavy and stiff.  With 3 of the 5 batches, there was a chattering noise at that point, of which I couldn't find the source.  It wasn't in the motor, but in the bowl or between the bowl and whisks.  It didn't seem serious, but I wouldn't have wanted to let it go on too long.  Fortunately, the dough was well enough mixed at that point to quit.





The other downside of using this mixer, or more precisely, the whisks, was getting the dough out of them.  It wouldn't have been a big deal if I was doing only one batch, and had all the time in the world, but when I was trying to be efficient and move right on to fixing another batch, it was a little frustrating.  If I volunteer to do a large quantity like this again, I'll order the cookie paddles.

My 'helper' and his job with the beaters, and the aftermath

You might also enjoy this previous post:
Bridal Shower Cupcakes