Contents
Tools for Baking Cookies
How to Adjust Cookie Recipes
How to Make Cookie Dough
How to Decorate Cookies
How to Bake Cookies
How to Troubleshoot Cookies
Drop Cookie Recipes
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Oatmeal Cookies
Peanut Butter Cookies
Rolled Cookie Recipes
Gingerbread Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Bar Cookie Recipes
Brownies
Blondies
Hand-Shaped Cookie Recipes
Biscotti
Gingersnaps
Filled and Sandwich Cookie Recipes
Rugelach
Linzertorte
Refrigerator Cookie Recipes
Refrigerator Sugar Cookies
Chocolate Mint Wafers
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How to Make Cookie Dough
Mastering a few easy-to-learn skills enables you to make cookie dough that always makes great cookies.
How to Measure ingredients
Take care to measure all ingredients precisely. In particular, don’t pack down dry ingredients unless called for in the recipes, and level off dry ingredients in their measuring cups using the top of a knife or other straightedge.
How to Soften Butter
The majority of cookie recipes call for softened butter, which means butter at room temperature. Butter that’s colder won’t incorporate sugar well during creaming (see next section). Make sure only to soften butter and not to make the butter so warm that it starts to melt. Butter that’s too warm melts too soon during baking, producing thin, greasy cookies. To soften butter:
- Let it sit at room temperature for 30–60 minutes.
- Cut the butter into 1" chunks and let them sit for 15 minutes.
You shouldn’t soften butter in the microwave when baking, because doing so alters the physical properties of butter, often resulting in flat cookies. Properly softened butter should yield slightly to your finger when pressed gently.
How to Cream Butter and Sugar
Creaming involves mixing softened butter with sugar until they form a homogenous mixture. Proper creaming helps to produce cookies with a light texture. You can cream by hand or with a mixer.
- Creaming by hand: Mash softened butter against the side of a bowl with a spoon. Add sugar slowly, working the mixture together with the same mashing motion. You’ll probably need to scrape the mixture off the side of the bowl several times. When the mixture looks like a sugary frosting, you’re done.
- Creaming with a mixer: Beat the butter at a low speed for 30–45 seconds before adding the sugar slowly, a little bit at a time. (If you’re using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.) Turn the mixer to high and beat the mixture for about 2–3 minutes until it resembles sugary frosting. Turn off the mixer periodically to scrape down the sides of the bowl and remove accumulated butter from the mixing paddle.
How to Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients
Nearly all cookie recipes call for mixing wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls before combining them. When combining wet and dry ingredients, add the mixed dry ingredients into the wet ingredient bowl slowly and in stages to prevent lumps from forming. This step is particularly crucial if you’re mixing by hand. Unless the recipe instructs otherwise, mix the dry and wet ingredients only until the dry ingredients are no longer visible—overmixing may make your cookies tough.
How to Roll Dough
If you roll the dough incorrectly, your cookies may turn out tough. Follow these rules for the best results:
- Chill the dough before you start to roll it. Using cold dough is crucial—it’s easier to work with because it won’t stick to the table or rolling pin. If you have a lot of dough to work with, roll it out in smaller batches and keep the rest chilled in the refrigerator.
- Rather than add flour to the table, dough, or rolling pin, place the dough between two pieces of lightly floured parchment or wax paper. If a recipe says to add flour to help facilitate rolling, use as little flour as possible, as too much flour can dry and harden cookies.
- When rolling the dough, focus your weight outward rather than down.
- Roll the dough to a consistent thickness so that your cookies will cook at the same rate.
- Transfer the rolled dough, still between parchment paper, to a baking sheet and chill it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before cutting it into cookies. Cold cookie dough holds its shape better as it bakes.
Chilling Dough
Many recipes call for chilling the dough prior to baking. This step firms the dough so that the cookies rise properly and don’t spread out too much when baking. If your recipe calls for chilling the dough before forming the cookies, work quickly when cutting or scooping the cookies so that the dough is still cool when it enters the oven.
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