How to Make the Perfect Cookies Part 1

Adults and children alike enjoy baking and eating cookies. These goodies are great snacks and gifts. Whether you choose to make old-fashioned favorites or quick and easy treats, these tips for preparing, baking, and storing your cookies will be helpful.

*Preparation Tips

1. For cutout cookies, chill cookie dough before rolling for easier handling. Remove only enough dough from the refrigerator to work with at one time.

2. For shaped or drop cookies, dough should be portioned in uniform size and shape on the cookie sheet.

3. Space mounds of dough about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet to allow for spreading unless the recipe directs otherwise.

4. Use the pan size called for in the recipe for baking brownies and bar cookies. Substituting a different pan will affect the cookies' cooking time and texture.

*Baking Tips

1. The best cookie sheets to use are those with no sides or only one or two short sides. These sheets allow the heat to circulate easily during baking and promote even browning.

2. Use unsalted fat for greasing baking sheets and pans. Lard and shortening are best. Check recipes, as some rich cookies need not be baked on greased sheets.

3. Try to make all cookies in a batch the same size to insure uniform baking.

4. Bake a test cookie when trying a new recipe to see if consistency of dough is right. If cookie spreads more than desired, add 1 to 2 Tbsp. flour; if cookie seems dry or crumbly then add 1 to 2 Tbsp. cream to dough.

5. For even baking and browning, place only one cookie sheet at a time in the center of the oven. If the cookies begin to brown unevenly, rotate the cookies sheet from front to back halfway through the baking time.

6. If baking two sheets at a time, place oven racks so oven is divided in thirds. Rotate the two sheets from top to bottom and bottom to top halfway through the baking time.

7. Allow cookie sheets to cool between batches, as the dough will spread too quickly if placed on a hot cookie sheet. If possible, have a second cool baking sheet ready.

8. To avoid overbaking the cookies, check them at the minimum baking time. If more time is needed, watch carefully to make sure the cookies don't burn. It is usually better to slightly underbake cookies than to overbake them.

*Storing Tips

1. Unbaked cookie dough can usually be refrigerated up to one week before using. Rolls of dough should be sealed tightly in plastic wrap or in a zipper bag; other dough should be stored in airtight containers. Label dough with baking information for convenience.

2. Store soft and crisp cookies separately at room temperature to prevent changes in texture and flavor. Keep soft cookies in airtight containers. If they begin to dry out, add a piece of apple or bread to the container to help them retain moisture. If crisp cookies become soggy, heat undecorated cookies in a 300'F oven for 5 to 5 minutes or until crisp.

3. Store cookies with glazes, icing and fragile decorations in single layers between sheets of waxed paper. Bar cookies and brownies may be stored in their own baking pans; cover with foil or plastic wrap when cool.

4. Crisp cookies freezer better than soft, moist cookies. Bar cookies and brownies may also be stored in the freezer. Baked cookies can be frozen in airtight containers or zipper storage bags for up to three months. Thaw frozen cookies and brownies, unwrapped, at room temperature.