Here are some general tips to use when making cookies. There is nothing profound here, just a few thoughts about dos and don’ts.
- Always use unsalted butter – if the recipe needs salt, it will tell you how much.
- Always chill your batter before baking. This will help the cookie hold its shape. With some recipes, you want the batter to spread out, like oatmeal cookies, so in that case you don’t need to chill the dough.
- Always assume the eggs called for are large eggs. In large kitchens the recipes specify how many grams of eggs to use but for home use it’s usually not worth the effort to divide an egg.
- Double check that the recipe calls for baking powder or baking soda and don’t confuse them. Baking soda reacts to the saliva in your mouth given you a sensation you may not want in your cookie.
- If you are covering your cookie in chocolate, you have to temper the chocolate. I have a post on how to do that.
- It is best to line your cookie tray with parchment paper of silpat. If you bake a lot, its a good investment to buy a few siplats, they are reusable. If you do that, keep one set for cooking and one set for baking or one set for savory recipes and one set for sweet recipes.
- Do not cut, slice or press on the silpats.
- Using a conventional oven rather than a convection oven. If you have thick cookies and want a soft interior with hard exterior, you convection. If you like soft cookies, use conventional.
- Always lower the temperature and reduce the cooking times if you are using a convection oven. At my elevation and for my oven, I reduce the temperature 25 degrees and the baking time by 1/3rd.
- For cakes, cupcakes, or anything that can spill over, place a tray on the rack below your baking rack to catch the spillage.
