Burned Cookie Bottoms? Get the Perfect Cookie Every Time

I love chocolate chip cookies. Or peanut butter cookies. Or hazelnut mocha cookies. Whatever your favorite cookie is, it can be fun to bake them yourself, and you don't get all the preservatives. In reality, homemade cookies are probably healthier for you than a bar of chocolate, and you can eat a bit more baked goods and still be healthy than the store bought goodies.

Whether you like crisp cookies or chewy cookies, no one likes burnt cookies. Having moved to several locations, I've had to adjust to new ovens, pans, and all sorts of variations. One day, I bought a new cookie sheet from the store. I had left my old cookie sheets at a previous location, so I ended up having to start over. This one promised it was made just for cookies, no stick, and all the features you'd want to see.

Unfortunately, after several attempts to come out with the perfect cookie, I couldn't make it work. After trying it in two separate electric ovens, my cookies usually ended up with too crisp bottoms and nearly raw middles. Or if I left it in until the middles cooked all the way, I ended up with just burnt bottoms. It didn't seem to matter whether the oven was set lower or if I took the cookies out sooner. I kept assuming it was the ovens, not the pan. I even tried moving the racks in the oven around, trying to get the pan away from the direct heat coming from the bottom.

During a middle of a cookie baking session, and expressing my frustration with my significant other about burnt cookie bottoms, he suggested I try a simple, glass casserole dish we had. I was willing to try anything, but it was funny he suggested the pan might be the problem. I hadn't thought about that.

So I tried it. What a difference it made! I couldn't believe it when I pulled out the cookies, and they were perfectly chewy on the inside and out, and the bottoms were just a touch golden brown.

After that, I tried it on different cookies, changing temperatures. I left some cookies in there longer, just to see if I could get a crisp cookie without burning anything. The pan works great and I seem to get a prefect cookie every time.

I've been trying to find out the scientific reason why a glass casserole dish would work out better than a regular cookie sheet. The only thing I can think of is that a metal pan probably heats up faster than a glass dish, and cooks the bottom well before the rest of the cookie has a chance to bake. The glass, I assume, probably is better able to disperse the heat and lets the cookies cook all over instead of from the bottom up.

So if you are suffering from burnt bottom cookies, and can't figure out the solution, try one of those glass dishes. It seems to be the way to get that perfect cookie.