Creating Incredible Cookies: Rules and Regulations to Baking the Perfect Cookies

By Samuel Brown
Owner of MyCookieCutters.com
Guest Writer

Take a deep breath through your nose. What’s missing? The sweet aroma of cookies baking, that’s what’s missing. Every home should be filled with that tantalizing scent and every baker should be proud of his/her baking results.

When it comes to baking there are a few intricate practices you should acquire in order to make the best cookies on the block. However, before you can learn the tips and secrets of the trade there are a few important aspects to baking that should be taken into consideration.

If you’re a lover of food then you understand the combination of flavors and the reasons why sweets mix so well with salts. With baking there, too, are reasons why some baked goods are better than others. One of those reasons is attitude. When you begin baking you should feel the excitement of blending together ingredients, you should feel the excitement of whisking and battering, you should feel the excitement of the aroma filling your lungs as all ingredients are combined.

Excitement and the love of baking are two main reasons why people exceed so well at baking. Measuring each cup of flour is like assessing an adventure. Combining eggs, butter and sugar is like preparing for battle. A surge of anticipation comes from each as you wonder what the outcome might be. With a steady hand you work and with watchful eyes you prepare for the next step and in the end you triumph with the most incredible cookies that make you want to do it all over again. With such an attitude you can create incredible cookies.

Prepping Your Kitchen

Every element of your kitchen and every element of your mind play an important part in baking. Ensuring you have a prepped kitchen and mind will guarantee incredible cookies your whole family will love. Before you even begin the baking part keep in mind that baking takes practice so even if you don’t create perfect cookies this time you’re on your way to those incredible cookies for next time.

Six Basic Rules:

Rule 1: You may have heard “mind over matter” but this time it’s “mind over batter.” When you’re baking your attitude plays a part in how well your baked goods come out. If you’re distressed or angry your cookies aren’t going to get the love and attention they deserve. It’s best to put off cooking until you’re calm and cool and ready to concentrate.

Rule 2: Read your recipe multiple times. Read it until you know it. Read it until you can recite it, if you have to. Read it until you are sure you have everything needed for this baking session.

Rule 3: Now it’s time to follow your recipe. Right now, simply because you’re newer to baking (or newer to baking the best cookies ever) you need to follow the recipe. Don’t substitute baking soda for baking powder or vice versa. Don’t guess on how much salt equals a teaspoon. Follow the recipe and you’ll be closer to creating incredible cookies.

Rule 4: Be adequately prepared by ensuring all the tools and baking equipment you need are cleaned and ready to use. Searching for anything (or having to take the time to clean a spoon) is distracting and may be detrimental to your cookies.

Rule 5: Keep your cookie cutters clean, too. Wash/rinse your cookie cutters between each batch of cookies so you don’t have any leftover debris.

Rule 6: Pre-heat the oven according to your recipe’s orders. If your recipe allows for a cold oven then that’s fine, but for many and most recipes you need a pre-heated oven for evenly baked cookies.

Begin Baking

Supreme ingredients bring about supreme cookies. Bad quality products equal bad cookies. In order to create incredible cookies you need to make sure your cookies are made with the best of ingredients. You also need to ensure you follow the recipe (i.e. for room temperature eggs and butter remove the items from the fridge an hour prior to baking).

Your flour’s quality is an example of how the quality of ingredients affects the quality of cookies. If you use stale flour you’ll have stale cookies. If you use the wrong flour you’ll have dry cookies. No admonishment can be said too many times so, once again, follow the recipe and use all-purpose flour when that is asked for and use the right amount no matter what.

Blending ingredients is important so items like flour and baking powder or baking soda can be mixed together prior to combining them with any wet ingredients. Doing this prevents any holes of flavor because both ingredients will be mixed evenly.

Use flat cookie sheets without sides for the best baking results. Doing so will ensure your cookies are evenly heated. Use vegetable shortening over vegetable oil (the oil will cause the bottoms to burn). You can also use unsalted butter to lubricate your cookie sheets.

Creating Incredible Cookies

Some bakers have created a few “tricks of the trade” which have all helped in creating incredible cookies. They are presented to you now:

  • Use the center rack in your oven when baking cookies.
  • A convection oven takes a lot less of everything including baking time and temperature. Your oven’s temperature can be 25 degrees less than a normal oven and your baking time can be 10 percent shorter.
  • Experimentation comes with experience. Once you’ve built a nice foundation for what your cookies should taste like then you can start experimenting with substituting ingredients like using margarine rather than butter. Just keep in mind that altering the recipe will alter the outcome of your cookies.
  • Creaming your butter and sugar is simple. Once you reach a feathery texture and you have a lemony-yellow color you’ve reached the aerated level and have successfully creamed your ingredients.
  • Keep your higher fat content dough chilled in order to keep it firm.
  • Be timely with your baking. Don’t guess, be precise with the timer. Over or undercooking your cookies will be detrimental to their outcome.
  • Use a wire rack when possible to keep cookies drier. Cookies that set on a baking sheet may become soggy from retaining moisture.
  • For rolled dough note that thicker slices, over 1/3 inch, equals a greater chance for soft, soggy middles. Thinner slices bake faster and are more fragile.
  • When your cookies’ bottoms get burned it’s because you’re cooking at too low a temperature with a rack that, also, is too low. If that doesn’t solve your cookies’ burned bottoms you may also be cooking with a baking sheet that is too dark.

Small Bio

While I may bake every once in awhile I really like to leave the baking to the pro in the family: my wife, Lisa. My name is Samuel Brown and I, with my wife, run http://www.mycookiecutters.com/, where you can find that unique cookie cutter or cookie cutter set. We both love baked goods—especially those chocolate chip cookies—and have passed that gene onto our three children—Troy, Lydia and Catherine.