Cookie Dough Tips & Tricks (2024)

Cookie Dough Tips & Tricks (1)

Make your next batch of cookies your best with a few of these simple cookie dough preparation tips.

Cookie Dough Tips & Tricks (2)

Categories: baking / / thanksgiving / Christmas

Cookies make everything better, especially around the holidays when their delicious scent fills your entire house, making it smell like fresh-baked magic. But not all cookie attempts yield perfectly baked cookies that everyone will enjoy. This sweet dilemma usually starts with the dough. That’s why C&H® Sugar has prepared a few tips and tricks to help make sure your cookies both look and taste like perfection.

Cookie Dough Tips & Tricks (3)

Check Your Cookie Dough’s Consistency

The texture of your cookie dough can dramatically affect how your cookies look and taste once they come out of the oven. After mixing your ingredients (sugar, flour, water, etc.), check that the consistency of your dough isn’t:

Tough– For rolled cookies, your dough can become “tough” by adding too much flour to your pin or counter before rolling it out. To avoid this, try using as little flour as possible while preparing to roll your dough.

Dry– “Dry” or “Crumbly” dough is a product of over-mixing or using too much of any ingredient during the mixing process. This can be reversed by adding one to two tablespoons of liquid (water, milk or softened butter) to your mix.

Soft– Dough that’s “soft” or “runny” can be thickened by adding one or two tablespoons of flour to your mix. This will help keep your batch from “Spreading” and coming out of the oven looking like flat, not-so-cookie-like puddles.

Turning Your Cookie Dough Into Delicious Cookies

After mixing your dough to the correct consistency, it’s time to bake them. Some steps you can take to ensure that your cookies come out of the oven looking like fresh-baked perfection are:

Chilling your dough beforehand– Chilling cookie dough keeps it sturdy as it bakes into delicious cookies. This practice also heightens the flavor profile of your cookies and gives your ingredients time to meld.

Using a silicone cookie sheet– This silicone cookie baking tool grips the bottom of your cookie dough patties and keeps them in the perfect shape while they bake. Using one also allows your cookies to brown more evenly.

Sticking to single batches- Bake one batch at a time if possible. Cooking your batches one at a time, on the center rack, is a great way to avoid hitting hot spots in the oven that could result in uneven cooking.

Cooling cookies with a cooling rack– When your cookies are finished baking, remove your pan from the oven and let them settle for about five minutes on a cooling rack. This will keep the cookies from overcooking on your hot pan.

Knowing your oven’s true temperature– If possible, purchase a digital thermometer to get an exact reading of how hot or cold your oven is before you start to bake. A too-hot oven is another factor that will cause your cookies to overcook, while one that is too cold can leave them too raw.

Cookie Dough Tips & Tricks (4)

Additional Tips

Measurements– Make sure all ingredients are properly measured.

Ingredients– Use fresh ingredients.

Room temperature– Use ingredients at room temperature.

Cookie Dough Tips & Tricks (5)

Butter and sugar– Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Cookie Dough Tips & Tricks (6)

Scraping the sides– Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed to ensure all ingredients are evenly incorporated.

Cookie Dough Tips & Tricks (7)

Dry ingredients– Add dry ingredients and mix until combined, do not over mix.

Cookie Dough Tips & Tricks (8)

Ice cream scoop– When using a cookie recipe that calls for dropping the dough, use an ice cream scoop to drop your cookie dough evenly. Utilizing this simple tool will ensure that your cookies are even portions, uniform in shape andwill come out of the oven evenly baked.

Cookie Dough Tips & Tricks (9)

Cooling– Allow cookies to rest in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooking rack.

Following these tips will ensure that your cookie dough has the best shot at turning into tasty and evenly baked cookies that your guests will love.

Our Favorite Cookies, Brownies & Bars

  • Easter Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing Prep Time: 20 minutes
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  • Banana Oat Snacking Bars Prep Time: 10 minute
  • Chocolate Marble Cookies Prep Time: 20 minute
  • Hibiscus Lemon Cookies Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Chocolate Crinkle Cookies Prep Time: 25 minutes
  • Brown Sugar Cookies Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cookie Dough Bites Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Chocolate Cupcake Cookies inspired by Hostess® Cupcakes Prep Time: 20 minutes

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Cookie Dough Tips & Tricks (2024)

FAQs

Cookie Dough Tips & Tricks? ›

Additional Tips

How long should cookie dough sit before baking? ›

"When it goes into the oven, the butter doesn't completely melt right away," she says. Youngman says chilling the dough for at least one hour before baking is crucial. An overnight sleepover in the fridge is even better.

What makes cookies chewy and not hard? ›

The science is simple: According to the flour authorities over at Bob's Red Mill, cornstarch can help “soften the rigid proteins of the flour, resulting in a light and chewy dessert.” “The cornstarch complements the flour in absorbing the liquids, but won't develop gluten structure like the flour will,” stresses ...

What happens if you don't chill cookie dough before baking? ›

Popping your dough in the fridge allows the fats to cool. As a result, the cookies will expand more slowly, holding onto their texture. If you skip the chilling step, you're more likely to wind up with flat, sad disks instead of lovely, chewy cookies. Cookies made from chilled dough are also much more flavorful.

Do you bake cookie dough straight from fridge? ›

The cookie baked from room temperature, being thinner, has a more uniform texture, while the one baked straight from the fridge. is thick enough to accommodate a softer interior. and crispier exterior. No contest. Generally speaking, you should chill your cookie dough before baking it.

Should you freeze cookie dough before baking? ›

Putting cookie dough into the freezer before baking can help solidify the fat from the butter in your cookies, which in turn keeps them from spreading too much in the oven. Colder dough will not expand as much as warm dough does. This will produce a higher, thicker cookie.

How thick should sugar cookies be before baking? ›

Place each portion onto a piece of lightly floured parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use more flour if the dough seems too sticky. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is evenly 1/4-inch thick.

Can you put cookie dough on parchment paper? ›

Kneading or rolling dough for pizza and bread

In addition, parchment paper makes rolling out your pizza and cookie dough a breeze.

What makes a high quality cookie? ›

The Quality Ingredients

Ingredients like butter, eggs and sugar can either make sweet cookie perfection or something you wouldn't want to share with your friends and family. Always look for a cookie that's made with premium ingredients. If the cookie contains some organic ingredients even better.

What is cookie secret? ›

Cookie Secret is the secret used to encrypt and sign session cookies. If you don't provide a cookie secret, Pomerium will generate one for you.

What is the key to chewy cookies? ›

Well, the long and short answer to chewy cookies is it's all about the moisture content. Cookies that are dense and chewy incorporate more moisture into the batter. This can be achieved by making substitutions with wet and dry ingredients, or even just changing the way you incorporate certain ingredients.

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