{Tips & Tricks} Cookies 101

This could be one of my self-portraits. I've always loved the cookie. Or I guess it would be appropriate to say, "Me want cookie!" I've been a Cookie Monster of sorts since I was old enough to sit on the kitchen counter with a wooden spoon while my mom made a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I started baking cookies at a young age and made them regularly all through college (my roommates and friends can attest to this).

Some of the most asked cooking questions I get have to do with baking cookies. This post is dedicated to that delicious treat and all the things that I do and personally believe make the perfect cookie. From gadgets to steps in the baking process, here are a few tips and tricks I use to get the perfect batch of cookies:

Let's start with a few gadgets.
(Keep in mind this is what I use and recommend but aren't critical to making a good batch of cookies.)
The first is a cookie sheet baking stone.

I LOVE this invention. Stoneware has been my best friend when baking. Stoneware is not only heavy duty and cool looking, it also makes a world of difference when baking cookies. My husband bought me a stone cookie sheet for Mother's Day and I just barely broke it in two days ago. Before I got the stone I had been using a pizza stone to bake cookies on. If you have a pizza stone you can totally bake cookies on it. The only downfall is that as you're using it for both cookies and pizza the cookies tend to start tasting like pizza, which really isn't good. I recommend getting a separate pizza stone for cookies or investing in a stone cookie sheet.

I've never baked a cookie more evenly than how it is baked on a stone. That is one thing about cookie sheets that can be a toss up. Especially if the cookie sheet is dark. Cookies tend to darken a lot on the bottom on a dark cookie sheet but are doughy on the top, or they're perfectly baked on the top but the bottoms are burned. If you'd still rather stick to a regular cookie sheet for baking cookies, great! Just make sure the pan is light in color and it is a good quality pan.

As long as I bake cookies for the correct amount of time on stone they always bake perfectly evenly. I highly recommend a stone cookie sheet! Mine is a Food Network cookie sheet found at Kohls, but you can also find them at Bed Bath 'n Beyond. You can get a pizza stone at Walmart or any other place that sells kitchen toys. Pampered Chef also has both of these types of stones that are excellent quality.

Tips for using a stone cookie sheet:

• NEVER grease it! One of the perks of using stone is that you don't have to grease it. The oils can ruin it. I've heard people say that it's ok to grease stone. But I'm here to tell you it's safer to not grease it. My sister-in-law, Erika, is one of those people who learned the hard way and ruined her stone by spraying it. Sad day!
  
• Don't use soap to wash it and don't put it in the dishwasher. Wash it by hand with warm water, scrubbing it with a brush.
• Make sure it is completely dry before you put it away.
  

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My next must-have gadget for baking cookies is a cookie scoop.

No matter how big or small you want your cookies, a cookie scoop is going to help you make sure all of your cookies are the same size and shape. Even though they're all going to taste the same, I'd also like them to look like the same cookie and not 20 different ones.

All the balls of dough look the same and are the same size...

...resulting in cookies that look the same! You can find cookie scoops at Walmart or anywhere that sells kitchen gadgets. They're usually in three or four different sizes. Pampered Chef has them as well.

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My next favorite cookie gadget has been a lifesaver!
Enter the tiny spatula I call a cookie spatula:

They come in all different shapes and sizes, but I like the two that I've pictured. I mostly use the skinnier one, but when I'm baking larger cookies I use the wider one. They're just the right size for getting cookies off the stone or pan and have a shorter handle than a regular spatula. I think about those days where I used a regular size spatula to get the cookies taken off the pan and all I'm doing is smashing the cookies next to the one I'm trying to take off. You know what I'm talking about. These little spatulas will save you so much time and tears from all the cookie smashing mayhem. And they're so inexpensive! You can find them at Walmart as well.

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Now the cookies are off the stone or pan and you're about to set them down on that nice strip of paper towels. Scratch the paper towels and replace them with a cooling rack. They're inexpensive and super convenient. The one I have looks like this:

I've also used the multilevel cooling racks and they work great too. The only thing I've found with those is that sometimes I get clumsy and accidentally bump the top layers, only to find my beautiful fresh-from-the-oven cookies tumbling to the floor. No good. I also find that there's less room toward the side edges because of where they stack. I prefer the single layer long rack, but that's just me!

There are perks to using a cooling rack. For one, they're nonstick so they lay nicely on the rack without sticking, unlike the paper towel situation. They also cool nice and evenly. All sides are exposed so all sides get to cool at the same time. They're super easy clean up and you get to save the paper towels!
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There you have it, my favorite cookie gadgets. To end this post I'm going to leave you with a few tips and tricks to getting the perfect cookie dough and cookies. Happy baking!

• If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.The dough gets worked evenly and it's much easier to get the dough off of the attachment. I've seen the paddle attachment with a rubber scraper at the end for easy scraping in the bowl. Talk about an amazing invention!
• Measure all of your ingredients EXACTLY. This is true every time you bake something. Baking is totally different than cooking in that way. You can't just throw in heaping cups or teaspoons of the ingredients. Baking is like a chemistry experiment. You have to get all the measurements just right for it to work. Use a knife or finger to even out the ingredients so you're getting the exact amount. If you measure exactly all through you won't have to worry about putting more or less flour in at the end. It will all be even.
• Make sure your baking powder and baking soda aren't expired. You can ruin your cookies if they are, so much that they might not rise.
  
• Mix the dry ingredients (salt, baking powder, flour, baking soda) in a separate bowl from the other ingredients. Add that all in at the end to the wet ingredients.
  
• When mixing the butter and wet ingredients (including sugars) together, mix only until they're creamed and not any longer. If you mix it too long the cookies will be tough. And the butter should be at room temperature.
• After you put the chocolate chips in, don't use the mixer to mix them in. Use a wooden spoon or spatula so you don't break up the pieces.
  
• When the dough is ready, cover it and place it in the fridge for at least 10 minutes then preheat the oven. Allowing the dough to chill will help the cookies from spreading out flat during the baking process. Put the dough back in the fridge while cookies are in the oven.
• If you prefer to use a metal cookie sheet, use parchment paper so you don't have to grease the pan. This makes for super easy clean up and you don't have to grease it.
  
• Start the cookies at the minimum bake time then check them. You'll want to take them out when they're starting to turn golden brown on the top. Key word "starting". They brown up a bit more when they come out of the oven and start cooling. I had a roommate who over baked every batch of cookies because she let them get too brown in the oven. Check them at the minimum time and you can leave them in longer if you need to.
  
• Let the baked cookies sit on the pan or stone for a couple of minutes before taking them off to the cooling rack. They won't be too gooey and break up by the time you move them.

Now that you're in the mood to bake cookies, you're going to need a good recipe! I've used this same recipe for almost 7 years now, including all through college, and it is my favorite. The recipe includes adding a box of vanilla instant pudding. You can't go wrong there!
Click here for the recipe, and enjoy!