Attempting Sugar Cookies

For my IRP Q2 Book project I decided to try my hand at making and decorating cookies. Based on the author of the book I’ve chosen, Decorating Cookies, she has included her “go-to, never-fail, cut-out cookie recipe…” (Edwards, 6). Intrigued by the sound of a supposedly “never-fail” recipe I went forward wholeheartedly, excited to try a recipe that not even I could mess up. The recipe goes as follows:

-3 cups of unbleached, all-purpose flour

-2 teaspoons baking powder

-1 cup salted butter, cold and cut into chunks

-1 cup sugar

-1 egg

-3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

First I started by following the directions that were explicitly written out in sizable paragraphs. However, I only made it past the first few. After I attempted combining the ingredients according to how the instructions explained, everything started going downhill. The ingredients never really formed into a cohesive structure, aka the dough that the author placed in the book, maybe only to mock my failure. The author suggested to keep kneading the dough until it all came together but an hour later there was no discernible difference. Which led to both me and the dough looking like the picture below.

I used to consider myself to be pretty average at baking, but that was before I colossally messed up this seemingly fail proof recipe. To ensure that this doesn’t happen again, what would you recommend for myself to do differently?