It’s no secret that I LOVE baking cookies and on any given week bake 4-6 dozen cookies. I bake breakfast cookies {yes, there is such a thing}, biscotti, all the way to delicious double chocolate brownie cookies {they had me at “double”}. I probably eat at least a dozen cookies a week all by myself 🙂
Now that the holidays are upon us, it’s time to crank up the baking a notch. If you plan on delivering plates of cookies to friends/neighbor {or dimming the lights in the dining room and eating a whole batch yourself–no judgement}, here are some tips to help you get the best results:
- Follow recipe amounts exactly. Baking isn’t like cookies, it requires precise measurements {I think that’s why French pastry chefs weigh all of their ingredients}. Save a “pinch of this and that” for the spices in your soup, and commit to measuring out everything in your cookies.
- Use eggs at room temperature. It can really screw up the mixing process {cold eggs and melted butter will cause your butter to clump and not mix properly.}
- On that note, unless the recipe calls for melted butter {or whatever fat you’re using}, keep butter at room temperature. It will blend soooo much better.
- Don’t over-mix your batter. It really ticks off your baking soda and can cause flat spread out cookies.
- For bars or squares, make sure to pay attention and use the size of pan the recipe calls for. That probably seems like a no-brainer, but even I have been tempted {okay, okay, I have been more than tempted, I have succumbed} to use a different pan because it was what I had on hand. Most of the time, it results in dry or overly gooey bars.
- For sheet cookies or bars, use a plastic knife to cut them. I don’t know what it is, but plastic knives do not tear them to pieces and leave perfectly cut bars.
- When measuring flour, spoon it into the measuring up and then level it with the back of a knife. {Don’t sift it–unless called for in the recipe.}
- Don’t overcrowd cookies on a pan in order to complete baking faster. They need room to spread and they also need warm air to encircle them evenly.
- For roll-out cookies, ALWAYS chill the dough first. It will make it more easily to get a consistent spread.
- Use parchment paper or silpats to make sure your cookies don’t stick to the pan.
Happy baking,
~Mavis
Need some ideas on what to bake? Check out all my cookie recipes HERE.
marylou says
awesome – thanks for the tips/reminders cookie coach! i did not know about the plastic knife thingie and had forgotten about the room temperature egg. i am printing this up to hang on the inside of the cabinet door.
Mavis says
Great idea to print it out!
Jamie N. says
I would add to not over bake your cookies! If they are puffed in the middle they are probably done if they are a soft cookie. Nothing like eating a rock… burnt on the bottom or not!
suzanne says
Ahh! My cookies tend to spread to flat out Over processing and/or nuking my butter maybe. Thank you!