I’ve Rolled Thousands of Cookies—These Are the Rules I Swear By for Easier Shaping

As a former pastry chef, one of the questions I get most often this time of year is how to roll out cookie dough without it sticking to the kitchen counter. It's a frustrating issue many bakers face when making sugar cookies, shortbread, gingerbread, or other roll-out doughs. With a few tips and tricks, you can prevent dough from sticking—and if it does, I have a tip for handling that, too.

Keep It Cold

Most cookie doughs have similar base ingredients: butter, sugar, and flour. In some ways, room-temperature dough is easier to roll out, as warmer dough is softer—it's easier to get this pliable dough as thin as you want. But you start to run into problems when your dough is too warm, and the butter begins to melt. As the dough becomes warm and greasy, it'll want to stick to the counter, and not even a generous dusting of flour will help. The minute you feel your dough become excessively soft or pliable, put it back in the fridge to chill until it's firm enough to work with again. 

Halve the Dough

Dividing the dough into smaller portions makes it easier to work with and ensures you can keep one portion chilling in the fridge at all times. If your dough gets too warm, simply swap it with the one that's been resting in the fridge.

Use Plenty of Flour

In addition to keeping the dough cold, one of the easiest ways to prevent dough from sticking is to generously dust your work surface and dough with flour. Halfway through rolling the dough out, I place my hands under the dough and gently slide it across the flour-coated counter to ensure it's well coated, then flip it and continue rolling—a method that former Serious Eats editor Stella also uses when preparing her rolled sugar cookies. Don't worry about using too much flour, as any excess can be brushed off the cookies with a dry pastry brush before baking.

Use an Offset Spatula

If your dough starts to stick, slide a long offset spatula underneath and gently wiggle it to release it from the counter. Chances are, your dough is too warm and will need to chill and firm up again before rolling and cutting.

Don't Be Afraid to Use Parchment

I like to roll thin, delicate doughs (such as craquelin) between sheets of parchment, which makes it easier to move from one surface to another. It's a foolproof way of preventing dough from sticking to your counter, and if the dough gets too warm, you can simply place it on a sheet tray and refrigerate it. When it's time to cut, peel off both layers of parchment, set the dough on a well-floured countertop, and cut your shapes.