The holiday season is coming up, and one of the best things about this time of year is that it’s a perfect time to try out lots of delicious new fall and holiday cookie recipes. From classic chocolate chip cookies to fall favorites like gingerbread and pumpkin to holiday sugar cookies, there’s plenty of delicious baking to be done.
If cookie baking is on your agenda this time of year, you’ll want to make sure that your cookies come out perfect for all those parties and special events. No one wants to eat a cookie that’s dry and overcooked, or one that has raw cookie dough in the middle. So how do you get that perfect texture that’s moist and chewy, with that beautiful crispy golden exterior?
We’ve put together this handy guide to help you make sure that your cookies are perfectly baked every time. Follow these guidelines and your cookies will have everyone coming back for seconds.
Table of Contents
Getting Prepared
First things first. Before you even start baking, there are a few guidelines you should follow to help ensure that your cookies will bake properly and evenly.
- Check Your Oven Temperature – Perfectly baked cookies start with a perfectly heated oven, so it’s a good idea to invest in an oven thermometer to ensure that your oven is actually heating to the temperature that you’ve set. And once you’ve got your oven at the correct temperature, try to avoid opening the oven door more than absolutely necessary, so you can maintain that even temperature while the cookies are baking.
- Preheat Your Oven – It’s also important to be patient and wait until the oven is fully preheated before you put in your first batch. If you put them in before the oven is hot enough, the outsides of the cookies may cook too quickly while the insides may not get fully cooked.
- Don’t Crowd the Oven – Overcrowding the oven is one of the most common reasons that cookies don’t turn out well. It might be tempting to fit as many cookies as possible into one batch, but if you put them too close together, they won’t have room to spread out and may not cook evenly. You should also avoid putting too many cookie sheets or baking trays in the oven at once. As a general rule, keep your batch of cookies to one sheet at a time, or two at the most, if you have a large oven or are using small cookie sheets.
- Rotate Your Cookies – Be sure to rotate your cookie sheets about halfway through the baking process. Ovens often have hot spots, and rotating your cookies is the best way to ensure that they all get equal exposure to heat and that they cook uniformly.
- Check Your Cookie Sheets – One of the most common mistakes people make is not replacing their cookie sheets as soon as they should. After they’ve been used for a while, cookie sheets can become warped, which will cause your cookies to bake unevenly. So if you’re using super old cookie sheets, it might be time for an upgrade.
- Use the Right Oven Rack – Most recipes will specify which oven rack the cookies should be baked on for best results, and where that rack should be positioned in the oven. Be sure to follow these instructions to ensure even baking. If your recipe doesn’t specify, go with the center oven rack. This is the spot that usually allows for the most even baking.
- Don’t Mix Varieties – If you’re baking a few different kinds of cookies at once, don’t mix cookie varieties in the same batch. They’ll likely have different cooking times and will look different when ready to come out of the oven, so it will be difficult to make them together and ensure that both are cooked well.
- Use a Cookie Scoop – It’s hard to get all your cookies baked perfectly if they’re not all the same size. A cookie scoop will allow you to form perfectly uniform sized cookies that will all bake evenly and be done baking at the same time.
Testing Cookie Doneness
Now that you’ve got your cookies in the oven, and have taken steps to ensure that they bake evenly, it’s time to figure out when to take them out. Here are a few different ways to help you decide. It’s often best to use a combination of these different methods to ensure that your cookies are perfectly baked.
- Baking Time – Most recipes will give you a range of time for baking. You can use this as a guide, but you’ll want to rely on the other methods to confirm that the cookies are ready to come out of the oven. Always set your oven timer to the minimum time in the range, or even a bit below, then check your cookies and add additional time if needed. Remember that all ovens cook slightly differently, so yours may need more or less time than the recipe calls for.
- The Overall Appearance – When cookies have not yet cooked all the way through, they’ll tend to look wet or there will be a shiny appearance in the center of the cookie. This will gradually go away as the cookie finishes baking. When your cookies are ready to come out of the oven, you’ll want this glossy sheen to be mostly gone, but it’s okay if there’s still a little bit in the center. Particularly if you like your cookies more on the soft and underdone side, you’ll want to take them out a little before the center looks fully cooked. This is because the cookies will continue to cook for up to 20 minutes after you remove them from the oven. As they rest on the hot baking sheet, they’ll firm up and continue to cook, and the glossy appearance should go away as the cookie sets fully.
- Check the Edges – The edges of the cookies provide another one of the best visual cues that they’re done, although this test works best for light-colored cookies like chocolate chip or sugar cookies. When this type of cookie is perfectly done, the edges should be a light brown or golden color. Note that the tops of the cookies should not be brown – only the edges. If the tops are brown, it’s usually an indication that the cookies are overdone. This test will also work with peanut butter cookies, but it can be a bit trickier. Since the peanut butter is brown to begin with, you may need to turn on the oven light or briefly remove the cookies from the oven in order to get a closer look to see if the edges are starting to brown.
- The Poke Test – Another favorite way to tell if your cookies are done is to poke the side of a cookie with your finger. If it leaves an indentation in the cookie, that means it’s not finished cooking yet. If the edge stays intact with no indentation, they’re done. Although this method will work with all kinds of cookies, it’s particularly useful for dark cookies like chocolate or gingerbread, since you won’t be able to look for the golden brown edges. As an alternative to poking the cookies with your finger, you can also gently nudge them with a metal spatula to see if they hold their shape.
Next Steps
Once your cookies are out of the oven, don’t remove them from the pan right away. They’ll need about 10 minutes to rest and firm up. If you try to remove the delicate cookies before they’re fully set, they’ll be likely to break apart.
After they’ve cooled just enough to hold their shape, you can transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling all the way to room temperature.
I hope these tips have you feeling confident in your ability to bake all your favorite cookies – and lots of new ones – to the perfect level of doneness. Follow these easy instructions and you can enjoy batch after batch of perfect cookies just in time for the holiday baking season.
Our Favorite Cookie Recipes
If you’re looking for some new recipes to try out your newly acquired cookie baking knowledge, we’ve got you covered with a few of our favorite classic and holiday themed recipes.
For a couple of our favorite classic cookies, try these snickerdoodles or these peanut butter blossoms. They’re a pair of crowd-pleasing cookies that are always a hit. And our jello cookies are a fun and colorful treat that kids love.
If you’re craving pumpkin treats, try these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies that are just perfect for fall. They have a soft and chewy texture and are filled with rich chocolate chips, just like your favorite chocolate chip cookie, but these start with a delicious pumpkin spice base.
And if you need some new additions to your Christmas cookie baking list, try these adorable Grinch crinkle cookies, these rich chocolate thumbprint cookies, or these colorful fruitcake cookies. All three are sure to be a hit at holiday parties and cookie exchanges.
Fun Cookie Recipes
- Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies
- Perfect Macarons
- Italian Ricotta Cookies
- White Chocolate Chip and Macadamia Nut Cookies
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