Baking holiday cookies soon? We talked with Anna Gordon, cookie maven and owner of The Good Batch bakery in Brooklyn, for her best tips and took a tour of her tempting shop. Let me tell you, these tips are going to change your cookie baking game this year.
Plan ahead
Figure out which cookies take the longest to make, and plan out from there. Also, make cookies with the longest shelf life first.
Measure out ingredients first
Before you start, get all your ingredients measured and ready to go. “This is crucial,” Anna says.
Invest in a scale
When it comes to baking, weighed measurements are more accurate than volume measurements. Convert your recipes if you can.
Do similar cookies together
To minimize mess and maximize effort, try to do similar types of cookies on the same day.
Start with room temperature
Start with room-temperature ingredients, including your eggs and butter.
For a crisp, crunchy cookie
That said, using melted butter will give you a softer dough that results in a crisp, crunchy, flatter cookie.
For a soft, chewy cookie
Otherwise, creaming room-temperature butter with sugar gives you a softer, chewier cookie.
How long to cream butter and sugar
Cream your butter and sugar together for at least 3 – 5 minutes.
Get a good scooper
Anna recommends King Arthur’s cookie scoopers, but you can use a sturdy ice cream scoop for dough.
Same cookie dough, 5 different ways
Use one kind of cookie dough different ways: Roll cookies in nuts, frost, cut out into shapes, dip them in chocolate, etc.
For browned butter cookies
For that nutty flavor you get from browned butter, chill butter after browning it before using it for your dough.
Holiday-up your ordinary cookie dough
Mix in spices or bourbon; top with crushed candy, raw sugar, Maldon salt or cookie crumbs; do a jam print… so many possibilities!
When to add sprinkles
Add sprinkles and other toppings just before you bake.
Chill before you bake
Arrange on your baking sheet the way you’ll bake it, cover with cling wrap, and freeze overnight if possible. Bake directly from the freezer.
Chilling prevents toughness
Also, the butter will melt more uniformly with the sugar, the edges won’t flatten, and you’ll get a more concise edge for your cookies.
No time to chill?
If you’re short on time, then make a wet, scooped dough cookie like macaroons instead.
Cool your sheets
Just as important as heating your oven is baking on cooled (room-temperature) cookie sheets. You can cool on a dish rack.
Bake on parchment paper
This helps your cookies bake evenly and keeps them from burning on the bottom. You can even reuse the same parchment sheet three to four times.
Secret to perfect ice cream sandwiches
Smooth out softened ice cream on a cookie sheet, freeze hard, and cut out disks with a cookie cutter. Return to freezer until use.
Assemble ice cream sandwiches
Use frosting to “glue” the ice cream disks between the cookies. “Work quickly,” Anna cautions.
Decorate your ice cream sandwiches
Use frosting to adhere crushed candy or sprinkles around the ice cream sandwich cookie.
Use your freezer more
“The freezer is the baker’s best friend,” Anna says. Use it to set frosting on baked cookies, among other things.
Wrap those cookies well
Use cling wrap, a ziplock bag or self-sticking plastic bags. Anna recommends biodegradable cellophane bags from Nashville Wraps.
The bread-in-a-cookie-jar trick
Or you can keep cookies soft in a cookie jar by adding a piece of bread.
How long homemade cookies last
Well-wrapped cookies last a week to a month. Crisp cookies and shortbread last longer than softer, chewier cookies.
All about good packaging
For gifts, tie up a stack of wrapped cookies with a ribbon, or pack cookies in a box lined with tissue paper to make it even more special.
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