BAKING TIPS
Use these tips to ensure delicious, perfectly done cookies.
- For these cookie recipes, use heavyweight flat baking sheets. Avoid dark finished pans, which can lead to over Browning of cookies, or air cushioned pans, which can result in cookies spreading too much.
- Use baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent the dough from sticking to the pan. If the paper stays clean and dry you can reuse it for the next batch. If you don’t have parchment paper, grease the baking sheets.
- Shape firm dough (cappuccino snickerdoodles) into smooth balls for evenly rounded cookies. Soft dough that’s dropped onto baking sheet will form smooth tops and edges and round cookies as it bakes. Make sure dough is formed into consistently sized shapes so all the cookies on a sheet bake in the same amount of time.
- Cookies bake most evenly on the middle rack of the oven. Baking them on the lower rack can result in burned bottoms; Using the upper rack can overcook their tops. Bake 1 sheet of cookies at a time or the number of baking sheets that will fit comfortably on the middle rack.
- Towards the end of baking time, check frequently for doneness. A minute too long could result in a too crisp cookie or one that’s burned on the bottom. Follow the recipes doneness test, looking for visual signs and light Browning or when the cookies of a certain firmness when touched.
