Whether you are a keen baker or an occasional dabbler in the art, baking delicious cookies can be easier than you think. With these simple cookie baking tips and tricks, you’ll soon have perfect treats for filling up your cookie jar.
Cookie baking tips
Do you love the smell of freshly baked cookies wafting through your home? Are you constantly dreaming up new and creative ways to bake up some of these sweet treats, but are in need of a few helpful tips? Look no further than this blog post! I’ll be providing a few tricks and techniques I use to make my perfectly tender and golden batch of delicious cookies every single time. So keep reading for a one-stop guide filled with cookie baking tips that will help you achieve success each and every go around!
Baking homemade cookies doesn’t have to be difficult! In fact, mastering the perfect cookie recipe is easier than you might think. In order to perfect your own homemade cookies, you just have to learn a few tricks of the trade. With the help of this printable cheat sheet with tips for baking cookies, you’ll have everything you need to bake the most delicious cookies right at your fingertips.
How to make perfect cookies
The key to making delicious cookies every time you bake lies in a few simple rules. And with the help of my cookie tips printable cheat sheet, you can hang up these easy cookie baking tips in your kitchen so you never forget the steps you need to take while you’re cooking.
With the help of these five cookie baking tips, you’ll end up with delicious cookies every time you bake.
1. Chill Your Cookie Dough
While not all cookie dough needs to be chilled, if the recipe calls for it, don’t skip this important step. Placing your cookie dough in the refrigerator helps firm up the dough, which helps prevent the cookies from spreading as they bake.
Chilling the dough also makes your cookie dough easier to manipulate. That’s why most sugar cookie recipes require that the dough be chilled before you start cutting out your shapes with your cookie cutters.
You might be wondering what types of cookies require you to chill your dough before baking. Generally, there are two reasons to place your cookie dough in the fridge:
- The recipe calls for it. In this case, simply follow the recipe instructions as written.
- The dough is sticky or hard to handle. If your recipe doesn’t specify whether the dough needs to be chilled but the mixture comes out too sticky or soft to handle or roll into balls, chilling is a good idea. Just place the dough in the refrigerator for around one hour, then roll the dough into balls and bake.
2. Cream the Butter and Sugar First
To ensure your cookie dough comes out light and fluffy, always start by creaming your butter and sugar together before adding any other ingredients. This will allow the ingredients to combine and work their magic, adding air to the batter that is essential in keeping your cookies from falling flat.
The best way to get the right consistency when creaming your butter and sugar is to start with room temperature ingredients. Around 30 minutes before you plan to start baking, remove the butter from the refrigerator and place it on the kitchen counter. You’ll know your butter is ready to cream when you can lightly press your finger into the butter and a fingerprint impression forms in the stick.
Once your butter is ready, simply add your sugars and beat on low speed until the butter and sugar are combined. After that, increase the blending speed to medium and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
3. Brown Your Butter
Although many cookie recipes call for plain, unsalted butter, one way to take the flavor of your cookies up a notch is to use browned butter instead. Browned butter is simply butter that is gently melted, resulting in a nutty, caramelized flavor.
To brown your butter, start by cutting your butter into small pieces. After that, allow the butter slices to rest at room temperature for around 20 minutes to slightly soften. Place the butter into a pan and cook over medium heat. As soon as the butter begins to melt, use a wooden spoon to stir. Continue stirring the butter as it begins to foam and sizzle and keep cooking for five to eight minutes, until the butter turns golden brown.
4. Add Some Sea Salt
No matter what recipe you’re using to make your cookies, it’s likely that they’ll end up being a sweet treat. So why would you add sea salt? To enhance the flavor!
A sprinkling of sea salt won’t necessarily make your cookies taste salty. Instead, the salt will help balance the sweetness of the other ingredients in the cookies – especially if your recipe includes ingredients like chocolate or caramel.
All you need is a pinch of sea salt to make a difference. Sprinkle the salt lightly over the top of the cookies right when they come out of the oven to add even more flavor to your freshly baked treats.
5. Don’t Overbake
It’s a good idea to use the recipe’s suggested cooking time as a guide. But since every oven is different, it’s best to use your eye as a way to determine when it’s time to take your cookies out of the oven.
To keep your cookies from overbaking, take them out of the oven when the edges are just beginning to brown. At this point, the center of your cookies might not look like they’re done baking. But that’s okay! Simply let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for five minutes. The heat from the baking sheet will help the center of the cookies finish baking and keep the edges from getting overcooked.
After allowing the cookies to continue baking on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, they’ll begin to firm up. At that time, you can transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
With these helpful cookie baking tips in mind and some patience, baking the perfect cookies can be an enjoyable and successful experience. So gather your ingredients, preheat your oven, roll up those sleeves and get baking! Even if the results are not perfect on your first attempt, try again – after all, everyone has to start somewhere. Who knows what delectable creations you may come up with?
Get the printable cheat sheet for these cookie baking tips HERE!
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