Advice for Making Cookies when Electric Mixer is Broken?

I bought all the ingredients for gingerbread cookies yesterday completely forgetting that my electric hand mixer is broken. 

We have some of those old fashioned beaters with the little crank on the side, so not all is lost and I also have a food processor with a dough tool.  Which is the best one to use?

I worry about not being able to mix the dough fast enough with the manual beaters, especially once it gets thicker and more difficult to turn the crank, but I worry about over-processing the dough in the food processor.

Any advice?

  I made cookies for years before I had a mixer. Just mix with a spoon, and if the dough's too stiff (like for roll & cut cookies), knead by hand. I'm no superwoman, but for most things like cookies, brownies, cakes, etc I don't even bother to get out the mixer now that I have one...

(Anything involving beating egg whites, however...!)

I made cookies for years before I had a mixer. Just mix with a spoon

Exactly what I was thinking! I always make my cookies by hand, including the gingerbread men I made last Christmas, and they turn out great! Sometimes it is hard to remember that people were cooking and baking lonnnnng before we had all these amazing kitchen appliances!   

Happy Baking!

Thanks SP! I know it's a bit silly, but I'm new to this baking thing, so throwing in a variable like doing it by hand scared me. I curdled brownies a couple of weeks ago trying to do it by hand.   I was sitting there this morning thinking to myself "You know, NoseOverTail, people made food for thousands of years without electricity, this isn't unheard of!"  

I think I'll cream the butter and sugar with the manual mixer and do the rest with a spoon as you said. Thanks again!

I was sitting there this morning thinking to myself "You know, NoseOverTail, people made food for thousands of years without electricity, this isn't unheard of!" 

And the Amish still do with amazingly tasty results. 

I've been putting off making cookies while over here because I don't have an electric mixer. I'm not sure why I never bothered getting one, since I used the heck out of the one I had in the States. Since we've decided we are headed back to the States there is no point in getting one now.

I made cookies for years before I had a mixer. Just mix with a spoon, and if the dough's too stiff (like for roll & cut cookies), knead by hand. I'm no superwoman, but for most things like cookies, brownies, cakes, etc I don't even bother to get out the mixer now that I have one...

(Anything involving beating egg whites, however...!)

 I REALLY want to make some Christmas cookies this year, so I will try kneading the dough if it gets too hard to stir. Thanks for the idea.

I couldn't do it without a mixer, but then I make about 60 dozen.   

I love my cookies.

I creamed the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon (after looking it up on YouTube, yes, I'm that sad), mixed in the egg and treacle the same way, and kneaded it all once the flour and spices made their appearance. It was perfectly fine and I think I actually prefer to make them this way because there's less stuff to clean after. Thanks again SP!   Ended up getting 48 out of my recipe and am now in gingerbread heaven.

I've been putting off making cookies while over here because I don't have an electric mixer.

My mom always bought the pre-made Pillsbury dough so I have had nothing much to go on with trying to make them myself. So many recipes now are narrated with the assumption that you'll be using a mixer, so I just had no idea how to go about it without one!  So, if I can do it, you can do it!

I couldn't do it without a mixer, but then I make about 60 dozen.   

I love my cookies.

 60 dozen!  

I can assure you I am not blue.  Although I am currently wearing a blue jacket.

My first year here I made them by hand and got blisters. 

We got a £5 mixer from Argos, seems ok to me!

Thanks again SP!  

Happy to help! I shall expect payment in the form of gingerbread men! 

Happy to help! I shall expect payment in the form of gingerbread men! 

 

I was going through my Google Reader today and saw a blog post on The Kitchn about this precise situation that I posted about. It's like it knew! One thing I learned from it is that something exists called a Danish dough whisk. I googled it, looked at a video, and I'm pretty sure it's something that could solve all worries about mixing dough in the future.

Anyone use one?