Buzz
Cookies come in many shapes and flavors. So, how can you make your ideal cookie? Whether you prefer large, fluffy cookies, light and crunchy ones, or chewy and soft varieties, you’ll find a helpful guide below—information not typically found in standard recipes. Read on to discover the best recipe that will help you bake delicious cookies!
Steps
Mix the Dough
Chill the Ingredients. Whether you're using butter in your cookie recipe or not, it’s recommended to keep the butter and other ingredients chilled. This helps the cookies maintain their shape and prevents them from spreading too much while baking.
- This means you should soften the butter by letting it sit at room temperature instead of microwaving it. You should never melt the butter before mixing it with the dough.
- Another great tip is to refrigerate the dough for about an hour before rolling it out to form the cookies.
Always cream the butter and sugar together. If your recipe calls for butter and doesn’t specify not to do so, always remember to "cream" the butter and sugar first. This step ensures the two ingredients form a thick, smooth mixture.
Use salted butter. Sweet buttercream often makes cookies too sweet. Salt helps balance the sweetness, giving the cookies just the right flavor. While you won’t taste the salt directly, you’ll definitely notice the difference in the cookie’s taste.
Adjust the recipe to change the outcome. If you’ve found your favorite flavor but the texture doesn’t match what you want, you can tweak the recipe to create the desired texture! Try out these tips:
- Use cake flour, shortening instead of butter (or substitute part of the butter), or add about 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and REDUCE 4 teaspoons of cake flour for fluffier, softer cookies.
- Add 2 tablespoons of milk, 1-2 tablespoons of butter, or swap white sugar for brown sugar for crispier cookies.
- Use melted butter to mix the dough, then chill before baking (bake for 1-2 minutes less) for chewier cookies. You could also just use egg yolks instead of egg whites.
- Use a plastic dough scraper for faster mixing if you don’t have a mixer.
Weigh your ingredients. If you’re still struggling to get the perfect result with your recipe, bake like a pro (and the Europeans do!) by weighing your ingredients. Use a good digital scale to ensure precise amounts. This will help you achieve a flawless result.
Expert’s Answer
Question
When asked: "What is the most essential tool in your kitchen?"
EXPERT ADVICE
Response from Mathew Rice:
Pastry chef Mathew Rice responded, "I think the most crucial tool might be a scale. For me, once I measure everything, I feel like my batch of pastries comes out much more precisely."
Baking Cookies
Use a cookie scoop to make uniform cookies. To ensure each cookie looks consistent once baked, use a cookie scoop to form evenly rounded portions of dough.
Dùng giấy nến. Thay miếng lót nướng bánh chống dính bằng giấy nến. Miếng lót nướng bánh chống dính làm cho bánh không được nướng đều và khiến phần đế bánh không có độ giòn hoàn hảo. Giấy nến sẽ giúp bạn tạo ra bánh với chất lượng tốt hơn.
Nướng bánh trên mặt dưới của khay nướng. Nếu để ý thấy những chiếc bánh ở gần bìa của khay nướng thường bị nướng quá lửa thì bạn nên dùng khay nướng tròn hoặc ô-van. Nếu không có loại khay này, bạn có thể ứng biến bằng cách úp ngược để dùng mặt dưới của khay nướng hình chữ nhật thông thường!
Hiểu lò nướng của bạn. Mỗi lò nướng đều khác nhau và việc biết lò nướng vận hành như thế nào là rất quan trọng. Nếu biết các vấn đề của lò nướng thì bạn có thể tìm cách để giải quyết những vấn đề đó.
- Ví dụ, nếu thấy bánh quy ở một góc hoặc một bên nào đó được nướng nhanh hơn thì bạn có thể xoay khay nướng cách xa vị trí đó trong khi nướng.
Nướng bánh với khay nướng lạnh. Cho khay nướng vào tủ lạnh để làm lạnh trước khi xếp từng mẻ bánh lên. Nếu muốn tiết kiệm thời gian, bạn có thể xúc bột vào giấy nến và cho vào tủ lạnh đến khi sẵn sàng để nướng trên khay nướng lạnh.
- Điều này có nghĩa là bạn cũng sẽ làm lạnh khay sau mỗi lần nướng!
Đừng nướng bánh quá lâu. Tốt nhất bạn nên nướng bánh gần chín tới. Trong khi nướng mẻ bánh đầu tiên, bạn nên quan sát cẩn thận và canh thời gian để biết khi nào thì phần mép bánh có màu nâu. Mép bánh nâu tức là bạn đã nướng quá lửa, mặc dù bánh vẫn hoàn hảo (đặc biệt là bạn muốn bánh có độ giòn!). Khi biết mất bao lâu để bánh đạt đến tình trạng trên thì bạn nên lấy bánh ra sớm hơn 30 giây trước khi chuyển sang màu nâu để bánh có độ mềm hoàn hảo.
- Nếu dùng hạt sô cô la trắng trong bánh quy thì bạn nên cẩn thận vì loại này rất dễ cháy khét.
Let the cookies rest on the baking tray. Allow the cookies to rest on the baking tray for a few minutes before removing them. This way, the bottoms will firm up and be easier to eat.
Ingredient Substitutions for Special Diets
Substituting ingredients for a vegan diet. To replace ingredients in baking for a vegan diet, the key ingredients you need to focus on are butter and eggs. Butter is easily substituted with shortening (this can actually make your baked goods taste even better!), but if you want to avoid some of the other hard-to-enjoy egg alternatives, try the following:
- Mix 1 tablespoon of oil, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, 2 tablespoons of soy milk, and 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed to replace 1 egg in a recipe. If the recipe only calls for egg yolks, you can easily swap it with milk and oil.
Substituting ingredients for those with lactose intolerance. If someone has lactose intolerance, you can replace butter with shortening. Milk in a recipe can be replaced with lactose-free milk, soy milk, or even tastier alternatives like hazelnut milk!
Substituting ingredients for those with peanut allergies. If someone has a peanut allergy, you can replace peanut butter with almond butter or Nutella (this one’s quite delicious!). Just be sure that none of the ingredients have come into contact with peanut butter.
- For example, make sure no one uses a spoon that’s been in peanut butter but hasn’t been properly cleaned before scooping Nutella. For safety, it’s best to buy new ingredients.
Substituting Ingredients for Gluten Allergies. Replacing flour in a recipe is simple, but there are a few things to keep in mind. For cookies, you’ll usually want to choose a low-protein flour to keep the cookies soft. You can also combine various flour substitutes instead of using regular flour. When using these alternative flours, be sure to add more liquid to your dough.
Substituting Ingredients for Diabetes. This can be tricky since both carbohydrates and sugar contribute to diabetes. You can make higher-protein cookies (like peanut butter cookies with high-protein flour instead of regular flour) and replace white sugar with a sugar substitute or another sweetener (honey is also very effective!).
Classic Cookie Baking
Making Cookies with Chocolate Chips. To add a creative twist to the recipe, feel free to experiment with different types of chocolate chips such as white, milk, or dark chocolate.
Making Oatmeal Cookies. Whole grain oats can turn your cookies into a heart-healthy treat. For gluten-free cookies, you can substitute all-purpose flour with oatmeal flour and make sure the oats you use are gluten-free. You can also add raisins, walnuts, or butterscotch chips to your oatmeal cookie recipe.
Making Peanut Butter Cookies. To create a dessert with a rich nutty flavor, you can bake peanut butter cookies. These are ideal for a morning snack to help increase your protein intake!
Making Snickerdoodle Cookies. These cinnamon-sugar cookies have a crispy texture and a sweet flavor due to being rolled in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar before baking. The secret to perfect snickerdoodles is to mix the ingredients by hand rather than using a mixer.
Making Gingerbread Cookies. Gingerbread cookies are flavored with molasses and ground ginger. To make them even more visually appealing, you can drizzle a bit of lemon glaze on top.
Making Coconut Macaroon Cookies. These light and airy coconut cookies are made without flour or egg yolks. You can use food coloring to change the cookies' color to match different occasions.
Holiday Cookie Baking
Making Gingerbread Cookies. Decorating gingerbread cookies in the shape of people is a beloved holiday tradition for many families. Not only do these cookies taste delicious, but they can also be decorated with various candies, colored icing, and frosting for extra flair.
Making Sugar Cookies. Basic sugar cookies are wonderfully tasty, and their recipe serves as the foundation for creating more complex cookie varieties. You can cut out sugar cookies using cookie cutters and decorate them with icing for holiday occasions, or simply enjoy them as classic sugar cookies.
Making Lebkuchen Cookies. These traditional German cookies are typically made during Christmas, blending the flavors of gingerbread and lemon. For a unique twist, you can try making chocolate-flavored Lebkuchen cookies.
Making Spritz Cookies. These cookies are shaped using a cookie press, a handy tool that is easy to find and quite affordable. You can decorate the cookies with colorful sugar or sprinkles to give them a festive look.
Making Marzipan Cookies. To add a Scandinavian Christmas flavor to your cookies, you can incorporate almond flour into the recipe. This will give your cookies a rich, almond taste that's perfect for the holidays.
Making Swirl Cookies. By stacking chocolate-flavored cookie dough and regular sugar cookie dough on top of each other and rolling them together, you create delicious swirl cookies. You can even adjust the colors to match any special occasion.
Unique Baked Cookies
Making Jell-O Cookies. You can diversify the cookie recipe by using various colors and flavors of Jell-O. This is a fun option that will get the kids excited to bake.
Making Chocolate Chip Cookies with Bacon. If you love bacon, you can create chocolate chip cookies with a twist by adding some crispy bacon bits into the dough.
Making Green Chocolate Chip Cookies. Add a touch of green to your chocolate chip cookie dough to create visually appealing green cookies. These are perfect for holidays like St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Christmas, or any other occasion.
Making Fried Oreo Cookies. Coating Oreo cookies in batter and frying them results in a unique and delicious treat. Serve them on a plate with some cream or a swirl of fresh whipped cream for an extra indulgence.
Making No-Bake Cookies with Extra Chocolate Chips. Cocoa powder, melted chocolate, and chocolate chips combine to make an irresistible no-bake cookie. While it requires some chilling time, the result is absolutely worth the wait.
Making Chocolate-Dipped Marshmallow Cookies. The combination of chocolate and marshmallows is always a winner, especially for fans of round cookies. This tasty treat has a marshmallow center, dipped in gooey melted chocolate.
Tips
- Crispy, salted, or butter-roasted nuts are the perfect ingredients for creating amazing cookies. Choose cookies made from peanuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds, and pine nuts to satisfy your cravings. These cookies also provide a healthy dose of fats and plant-based protein.
- When baking cookies, don't forget parchment paper! If you do, your cookie dough will spread out and become one giant cookie!
- If your cookies don't turn out as expected and you're unsure why, it could be because you've used too much flour.
- According to Linda Stradley from the program What’s Cooking America, cookies were originally created as a test when baking sponge cakes. Called koekje in Dutch, bakers used them to test the oven's temperature. When they discovered how delicious cookies were, they began baking multiple batches.
- Lemon cookies will satisfy your craving for a tangy-sweet flavor alongside refreshing lemon zest. Opt for organic lemons to achieve the best taste and avoid unnecessary chemicals in your cookies.
- Goat cheese, ricotta cheese, and cream cheese create a fluffy texture and rich creaminess for traditional cookies. Some recipes, like cottage cheese and goat cheese cookies, will give you a whole new perspective on cookie-making.
- Unique cookies offer an opportunity for creativity. Most unique cookies are based on a simple recipe that you can easily adjust or replace ingredients. Along with the fun baking process, these cookies will surely make kids excited to join you in the kitchen.
- Classic cookies are the large, comforting cookies you often had as a child. Baking these classic cookies helps you gain experience working with more complex recipes.
- Holiday cookie recipes combine the festive flavors of America, Italy, Germany, Russia, Norway, and Wales.
Warning
- Ensure that everyone can safely enjoy the cookies! Many people are allergic to nuts, and even if there are no nuts in the cookies, some ingredients may come into contact with nuts. It's always a good idea to check with others beforehand to make sure no one has any allergies.
