Basics Of Cookie Making

The Basics of Cookie Making

A GREAT COOKIE IS MADE FROM FRESH, QUALITY INGREDIENTS. IF YOU THINK OF THE LITTLE ROUNDS AND BARS AS JUST COMPACT CARRIERS OF FLAVOR, YOU’LL SEE HOW IMPORTANT EVERY STICK OF BUTTER, OUNCE OF CHOCOLATE, TEASPOON OF SPICE, AND CUP OF NUTS IS TO THE END RESULT. WHAT YOU MIX IN IS WHAT YOU’LL TASTE, SO KEEP THE PHRASE “QUALITY OUT” FOREMOST IN YOUR MIND AS YOU SHOP FOR INGREDIENTS.

Making Cookies also requires a heaping spoonful of patience. Chocolate must be melted slowly so it doesn’t burn, butter and sugar must be beaten sufficiently until creamy, and in many recipes, the dough must be chilled to provide the best rolling and baking results. It’s important not to take shortcuts or else the taste and texture of the cookies will suffer. If you’re in a hurry, check out the Quick and Easy list.

There are two shortcuts, however that you are free to take. Both of these, in a small but significant way, forever changed my way of cookie baking routine for the better, allowing me to be more spontaneous and efficient.

1

BUTTER MUST BE SOFT AND PLIABLE TO BE PROPERLY CREAMED, but how often do we forget to take the sticks out of the refrigerator ahead of time? If you’re very careful, butter can be softened in a microwave without affecting its usability. Here’s how: Place one stick, still in its wrapper or unwrap it and place it on a micro-wave safe plate or sheet of wax paper, in the microwave. Turn the machine on high for 10 seconds. No more ! You do not want to melt the butter, which would change the consistency of the dough and the cookies.  When you lightly squeeze a stick of softened butter it should leave impressions of your fingers, but it should not feel mushy. With this little trick, there’s no waiting for butter to soften before baking.

2

TRY TO BE ONE STEP AHEAD OF YOUR OVEN. Have the next batch of cookies ready to go on a clean sheet of parchment paper. When a cookie sheet comes out of the oven, slide the parchment with the baked cookies onto a rack, and then slide the parchment with the formed dough onto the sheet and immediately place it into the oven. Do this quickly because the dough should never sit on a hot sheet for more than a few seconds. Now there is no more waiting for hot cookie sheets to cool before they can be used again.

Otherwise, a cookie recipe like all baking recipes, is a formula. Yes, that bowl of yummy ingredients is bound up in the science of chemistry, So read through the recipe carefully, follow it precisely, and measure accurately; your cookie baking will not only be loads of fun but successful!

Cookie Baking Guidelines

Here are the key steps and rules for successful cookie baking. Read them over a few times, then embed them into your cookie-baking routines and memory.

• Before you start, make sure you have all the necessary ingredients and enough time for pre and post baking tasks. Many recipes require prep work, such as toasting nuts, grating zest and chopping chocolate before you can actually start assembling the dough. Some doughs need to be chilled before baking. A few bar cookies should not be left to cool too long after they come out of the oven; they must be cut while still warm or else they become too hard or to too crumbly to slice.
• Preheat the oven for at least 15 minutes before baking.
• You’ll receive the most consistent results when you bake one cookie sheet at a time on a rack in the middle of the oven. If you want to use two sheets to move the job along { after first checking to see if the recipe suggests it }, place the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven with at least four inches between them so heat can circulate. Ideally, the bottom rack should be at the top of the lower third of the oven and the top rack at the bottom of the top third. When using two sheets, it is important to rotate them from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking to allow the cookies to bake evenly. Do it carefully, yet quickly, because the oven temperature will drop the longer the oven door is open. If one sheet of cookies is done before the other, pull it from the oven.
• Follow the recipe instructions for shaping the cookies to the proper size or rolling the dough to the appropriate thickness in order to get uniform results and the indicated yield. Cookies of the recommended size will bake evenly in the time suggested.
• Don’t crowd the cookie sheet. Leave the suggested amount of space around the cookies, which accounts for spreading and allows  the oven heat to circulate and brown the cookies properly.
• ALWAYS check the cookies a minute or two before the suggested minimum baking time. Your oven may run hot or your cookies may be smaller or thinner than the size suggested, causing them to bake faster. That being said, if your cookies take a few minutes longer, that’s okay too. Ovens vary tremendously. Follow the visual clues for doneness provided in each recipe. Also, remember that most cookies firm up as they cool, so resist the temptation to add minutes to the baking time to produce crispier cookies. It will usually result in dry, overbaked possibly burned tasting cookies.
• When the cookies are done, immediately remove the cookie sheet from the oven. Unless a recipe directs otherwise, remove the cookies from the sheet one at a time, using a thin metal spatula and place them on a cooling rack. For particularly fragile cookies, it’s best to slide the parchment paper with the cookies on it onto a rack and let the cookies sit until firm enough to place directly on the rack to finish cooling.
• Always let cookie sheets cool before putting on the next batch of dough. Dough on a hot sheet will start to melt and spread, changing the shape, texture and even the taste of the baked cookie. To speed things up, follow the 2 shortcut tips listed above and have the next batch ready to go on parchment paper. Slide the parchment onto the hot cookie sheet and immediately place it in oven. The key is not to let the dough sit too long on the hot sheet before you place it in the oven.

Chilling and Freezing Cookie Dough

Refrigerating cookie dough allows it to rest and firm up before it is rolled and shaped. In some recipes, such as Chocolate Crinkles and all of the Slice and bake cookies, { recipes coming soon } the dough is impossible to work with until it has had a good long chill. In general, whenever dough needs to be chilled before baking, it can be refrigerated longer than the time specified, usually up to three or four days. The dough will harden, but will soften again to rolling or shaping consistency after sitting at room temperature for about an hour.

Cookie doughs with high butter content freeze well, usually up to three to four months. The type of cookie will dictate whether the dough should be frozen in a disk shape { if it is to be rolled out }, a ball { for drop or hand-shaped cookies }, or a log { for slicing }. In all cases, make sure to wrap it snugly in plastic wrap and for extra protection against frost, secure it with a layer of foil or in a heavy-duty plastic bag. Label and date the package because frozen blobs and logs are difficult to identify after a few months. You might even want to attach a piece of paper with the baking instructions so you do not have to hunt for the recipe when it is time to bake. Thaw frozen dough in the fridge overnight or , id needed sooner, for an hour or two at room temperature.

Storing Cookies

Step number one of proper cookie storage is to cool the cookies completely. Treats that are still warm from the oven create a steamy environment, perfect for turning their textures soft and mushy.

Step two is to choose containers with air-tight lids, be they plastic, metal or ceramic; or use sealable plastic bags. If wrapping cookies in foil, first surround them with a layer of plastic wrap or wax paper for a more secure package because foil is easily punctured. Iced, glazed or sticky cookies as well as those that are particularly fragile should be stored in layers separated by sheets of wax paper or parchment paper.

And the final, cardinal rule of cookie storage is that one container doesn’t fit all.  For your cookies to taste as good as when they were first baked, separate the different flavors and textures. Mild-flavored buttery rounds will acquire notes of spice or citrus if packed next to cookies with these stronger flavors. And never should a crunchy meet a softy! Crisp cookies will lose their delectable crunch if stored along side moist or chewy treats.

Recipes usually will have storage recommendations.  Unless specified otherwise, cookies should be stored in air tight containers at room temperature. While many cookies taste their best the day they are made, others such as spice cookies develop their flavorful nuances over a few days time. These treats as well as super buttery varieties like sables, sugar cookies and shortbreads can be kept for weeks. Iced and filled cookies generally do not last as long  nor do they freeze well. An exception is the Fig Half Moons. If you want to freeze cookies that will be iced or glazed, freeze them undecorated.  Thaw the cookies at room temperature on wire racks for a few hours, then decorate them as you would if they were fresh.

Freezing Cookies

To freeze those cookies that freeze well { and not all cookies do , so check each specific recipe } secure them with a snug double wrapping to protect them from freezer burn. Wrap the cookies first in plastic, then enclose them in a layer of foil or wax paper or tuck them into a heavy-duty freezer bag. If your very lucky, use a vacuum sealing machine. When stacking your treats, use wax or parchment paper to separate layers.

Frozen cookies can be thawed at room temperature or in the refrigerator. If thawing at room temperature, open the package slightly so that moisture is not trapped inside. Some varieties, such as the Fig-Half Moons, Cornmeal Currant Cookies and biscotti benefit from a few mins of heating and re-crisping in a 350 degree or 375 degree oven.