Tips for making perfect cookies

Did you know that homemade cookies can last even a month in perfect condition if you keep them well? That as long as you don't get confused and the little ones (or some older child in the house... Ehem!) don't play the mouse and eat them before.

Baking cookies is one of my favorite pleasures. It is easy and it is also fast, since both the dough requires very little mixing and the baking takes little time (around 15 minutes). The little ones also enjoy, you make sure you eat quality ingredients and, if you do it in quantity, you have reserves for days.

Tips for making homemade cookies successfully

If you want to try and pass the first test with flying colors, or if you have any questions, I'll leave you with some tips and tricks for making perfect cookies (and I'll remind you of some great recipes later):

1. Calculate the weight of the flour on a scale and accurately , not on the meters. The weight of the flour can vary depending on the type of flour you use, and with the measurers you can go overboard, filling them to the brave. Using more flour than indicated will make them hard and dry, and may crack.

2. Use all purpose wheat flour (medium strength). All-purpose flour can develop too much gluten or make them too hard; on the contrary, low-strength flour will make cookies that are too delicate.

3. It is not necessary to add yeast (in some cases a quarter of a teaspoon is added). The yeast would make them grow unnecessarily, they would not be homogeneous (depending on the position of each one in the oven, they would grow uneven despite coming from the same mixture) and you will also have the danger that they will grow until they join each other. That said, do not add yeast.

4. The butter must be softened, but still have a cold point . Remember that when you mix it, it will heat up, and the hotter the butter is, the more flour it will require.

If you don't want to wait for it to soften, a trick I was delighted to discover is to put the butter in a plastic kitchen bag and hit it hard several times with a rolling pin . Yes, gross. It is soft at the moment but still with that cold point that we need.

5. Don't overwork the dough or you'll develop gluten. You must mix until you get a homogeneous mass. Nothing else.

6. It is always recommended to put the dough in the fridge for at least one hour once the dough is obtained. That is because you will stretch it more easily and, what is most interesting, you will cut it better: the shapes will be better defined , take heed.

7. It is very comfortable to stretch and cut the dough on top of the baking tray . You will avoid manipulating them and their deformation: it will only be a matter of stretching with the roller, using the cutters and stamps to leave the shapes that interest you and removing the excess dough. Straight into the oven!

8. When stretching the dough, remember to do it so that there is a homogeneous mass in height . It is ideal to make them with a height of between half a centimeter and one centimeter (flatter it is easy for them to dry out and break easily, and thicker ones will cost more to make... and to eat!).

To do this, you can use the Joseph Joseph rolling pin , or arrange a couple of wooden spoons on each side of the dough (or similar utensils with long sticks of the same size) to act as "rails" for your rolling pin, so that it keeps the same height as it passes through them, leaving the mass below.

Joseph Joseph rolling pin , Nordic Ware stamps and Birkmann chiller rack

9. In turn, use similar size cutters on each tray , so they have a similar baking time. If you put cookies of varying thickness and size on the same tray, some will be hard and others raw, and the golden color will not be similar either (how nice it is that they are all equally golden!).

10. It is important that the oven is hot when you introduce the cookies. Otherwise, the dough will soften a lot and can deform before cooking as such. So you must preheat the oven (usually at 180ºC for 10-15 minutes before introducing the cookies).

11. When you see that the cookies, at their edges, begin to brown, you must remove them . Do not wait more! Hopefully, they will end up hard. Don't be surprised that they are soft when you take them out - it's normal, really. You must let them cool on a rack and you will see that they have the perfect hardness: you can then handle them calmly, they will be crunchy but the interior will not be hard and you will not leave your teeth when eating it (yes, that is what happens if you bake them in excess).

Depending on the size of the cookies and the height at which you have the tray in the oven, it will take more or less time, but in general you will need between 10 and 20 minutes just to get them ready , so don't stray too far from the kitchen! !

12. When they are already cold, after between half an hour and an hour, you must save them. Where? Never in a plastic container: store them in a tin container or a glass container that closes well. It will be the way to keep your cookies perfect, and they can even last a month.

De Buyer baking tray and perforated tray

Easy and delicious cookie recipes

Ready to make cookies? I leave you with some tried and tested recipes with which you will fall in love with the family and those guests with whom you will make the Sunday after-dinner meal. You will succeed!

• Hazelnut and chocolate cookies
• Ginger cookies
• Matcha tea and chocolate cookies
• Butter cookies (classic recipe)*
• Shortbread Cookies (with Nordic Ware stamps)*
• Oatmeal and chocolate cookies **

* The butter cookies that you will see in these recipes are made with the Ilsa churrera and with the Nordic Ware stamps, but you can also use the Imperia cookie gun or use other molds and cutters.

** The oatmeal cookie recipe is made in a large format in a pan suitable for the oven, but you can make the same mixture, make small balls and flatten them to get individual cookies and bake them normally on a tray.

They are delicious recipes, I hope you are encouraged by them! And you'll tell me how many seconds the "Mmmh!" of the guests The cookies, if you leave them on the table, I don't think they will last very long.

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