The Baking Answer Book (26 page)

Flour your cookie cutters.
For the cleanest cut, dip the edges of your cutter into flour to prevent the cutter from sticking to the dough.

Cut efficiently.
Cookie dough is like pie dough, biscuit dough, or any other pastry dough: The more it is
handled, the less tender the finished product. As you re-roll it, not only do you handle it more, but also you add more flour to prevent sticking. With this in mind, it’s important to re-roll the dough as few times as possible. The best way to ensure this is to cut your cookies as close together as possible and with little leftover dough.

SEE ALSO:
Rolling pins,
page 53
.

Q
Some of my rolled cookies are paper-thin while others are close to a ¼ inch thick. What is the trick to rolling the dough into an even thickness so all my cookies are the same?

A
Rolling out dough evenly takes some practice. It’s a matter of applying even pressure on the rolling pin with your hands as you roll and avoiding pressing harder during one part of the rolling motion than another. It’s also key to rotate the dough often, so that if you are applying pressure unevenly as you roll, at least you won’t be applying pressure unevenly to just one or two parts of the sheet. If you need more help, there are adjustable pastry boards on the market (see Resources) with raised edges that will allow you to roll your dough only to a set thickness and no thicker. You can also improvise one of these boards: Use two thin cutting boards the same thickness as you’d like your cookies to be; position them on either side of the countertop where you are rolling. Roll dough between the cutting boards. (The flexible grip mats available online and at house-wares stores make good guides; see Resources.)

Q
The almond paste I was keeping in the refrigerator has some hard, dry spots. Can I still use it to make macaroons?

A
If your almond paste has just begun to dry out, you can try to reverse the drying by putting it between two pieces of soft white bread and placing the “sandwich” in a resealable plastic bag. After 2 to 4 days, enough moisture from the bread will have migrated to the almond paste to soften it up. If your almond paste has hardened to the consistency of marble, there is nothing you can do but throw it away. Next time you purchase more than you can use, wrap it tightly in plastic and freeze it until you want to bake macaroons again.

Q
Even when baked on ungreased baking sheets, my cookies spread more than I’d like. What’s wrong?

A
Make sure your butter is softened but not at the melting point. Melted butter in your cookie dough will cause your cookies to spread. If you are baking on a very warm day or in a very warm kitchen, consider refrigerating the bowl of cookie dough before portioning it out; 15 to 30 minutes in the refrigerator should firm it up. Chilled cookie dough will keep its shape longer in the oven, allowing the dough to set up before too much spreading occurs.

Q
Why do some cookie recipes call for greasing the baking sheets and some don’t?

A
Greasing your baking sheets will cause your cookies to spread, which isn’t desirable in many cases. That’s why many recipes call for ungreased sheets. The dough sticks to the spot where it was placed so the finished cookies hold their shape to a degree.

This doesn’t mean that cookies are guaranteed not to stick on ungreased sheets. If you suspect that your cookies might be difficult to remove from ungreased baking sheets after baking, line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Even the stickiest doughs will peel right off. Even if you are sure your cookies won’t stick, consider using parchment paper anyway, for ease of cleanup.

Q
What is the best way to grease a baking sheet, when it’s called for?

A
In my opinion, nothing beats parchment paper, which obviates the need for greasing. Nonstick aluminum foil also works well. If you don’t have parchment or nonstick foil, don’t try to substitute wax paper, which will smoke and sometimes even burn at 350°F (180°C) and above. Instead, use cooking spray, vegetable shortening, or butter. Don’t use vegetable oil, which will smoke and burn before your cookies are baked through.

Q
My baking sheets are covered with baked-on grease. How should I clean them?

A
Grease on regular stainless steel (not nonstick) baking sheets can be removed with a mild abrasive, like scouring powder or baking soda mixed with water, or with a steel-wool soap pad. For thick layers of baked-on grease, you might try spraying your baking sheets with oven cleaner and then letting them stand in a well-ventilated area (outside is best) before scrubbing them clean.

Q
Help! I accidentally put cooking spray on my nonstick baking sheet before baking a batch of cookies, and now the spray is baked on and I can’t get it off.

A
During baking, the grease bonds with the nonstick coating and it’s virtually impossible to separate the two. Before throwing the baking sheet in the garbage, you might try a product like Goo-Gone, a cleaner originally developed to remove sticky, gummy residue from all types of surfaces. It may be able to lift the grease from the sheet.

Q
How can I tell if my cookies are done?

A
Cookies are so small that a minute or two in the oven can mean the difference between soft and moist
cookies and hockey pucks. After too many batches of hockey pucks, I realized that my criteria (and the criteria in many recipes) for judging doneness was a bit off. Instead of baking most cookies until the tops are dry and golden, I now pull them from the oven when the tops are still a little bit moist. As they cool, the cookies continue to set up, so if they look a little bit underdone when you remove them, they will be perfect once they’ve cooled. Brownies and bars should be judged by a similar standard. If you bake them so that a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, the areas near the edges of the pan will be overdone. Take them out of the oven when the center is still a little bit moist. Residual heat will continue to bake the brownies so the center portion is moist but not raw.

Q
Can I save time by putting two baking sheets in the oven at once?

A
Unless you have a convection oven, it’s best to bake one sheet of cookie dough at a time to ensure even baking. But if you are in a hurry you can bake two sheets at once, reversing their positions and rotating the sheets from back to front midway through baking to help them bake evenly. Baking two sheets at once may take a minute or two longer than the recommended baking time, so judge doneness by looking and touching as well as by the clock.

Q
Do I have to cool the baking sheets between batches of cookies?

A
Always place your cookie dough on a cool or room temperature baking sheet. If you don’t, the dough will start to melt as you work, instead of beginning to bake properly with a hot blast of air from the oven. Some people chill the sheets between batches in the freezer or refrigerator, but I’m always afraid that a warm baking sheet will harm the cold food in the fridge or even melt the plastic shelving. I prefer to hold the baking sheet under cold running water and then dry with paper towels. It’s not necessary to wash ungreased sheets with soap and water between batches as long as you wipe them dry and free of crumbs.

To get around rinsing and drying your oven-warm baking sheets, while your first batch of cookies is in the oven, lay a piece of parchment on the counter and portion out your cookie dough on the paper. Then, when you pull the baking sheet from the oven, slide the parchment with the baked cookies onto a wire rack, slide the parchment with the unbaked dough onto the baking sheet, and put the sheet right back in the oven, with no down time for cooling the hot sheet.

Q
How should I store my cookies?

A
In an airtight container at room temperature. If your cookies are soft and chewy, do what my friend’s
grandmother used to do to keep them that way: Place half of a piece of white bread in the container with your cookies. They’ll draw moisture from the bread over the course of a few days, staying fresh. If your cookies are a little past their prime, restore their just-baked flavor and texture with a technique that my daughter brought home from the middle-school cafeteria: Wrap a single cookie loosely in a paper towel and microwave on HIGH until it is soft, 10 to 20 seconds.

Q
Can I freeze cookies if I know I won’t be eating them all in the next few days?

A
Freshly baked and cooled cookies can be frozen in an airtight container between sheets of parchment paper. Defrost them on the counter and microwave them, if you like, as described above to restore their just-baked goodness. But consider planning ahead and freezing unbaked cookie dough if you know you have made too much.

Q
Is it better to freeze cookies before or after baking?

A
As a baker, it’s been my particular crusade to get people to freeze some of their unbaked cookie dough every time they mix a batch. Yes, it is possible to freeze baked cookies, defrost them, and enjoy them at a later date. But freezing the portioned out dough or logs of slice-and-bake dough and
then baking as many or as few cookies fresh when you want them is so much better. The advantages are multiple: While defrosted cookies are fresh-tasting enough, nothing beats the warm-from-the-oven flavor and aroma of just-baked cookies. Then there’s the issue of portion control. Most people lack the self-control to keep from overindulging in just-baked cookies. If they are there, we will eat them! Freezing the unbaked dough prevents this cookie madness. The biggest bonus: Freezing cookie dough allows you to conjure fresh-baked cookies in less than 30 minutes (15 minutes to preheat the oven, and no more than 15 minutes to bake).

Q
What is the best way to freeze cookie dough?

A
It depends on the type of cookie you are making. To freeze drop cookies, line a baking sheet with parchment or foil and drop the dough onto the sheet. Freeze the cookie dough balls until firm, transfer them to a resealable plastic bag and place the bag in the freezer. For slice-and-bake dough, wrap the dough logs in a double thickness of plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil before freezing. For rolled and cut cookies, you can roll and cut the dough and place the rolled and cut cookie shapes between layers of parchment on a baking sheet. Wrap the whole baking sheet in a double layer of plastic wrap before freezing.

Q
Do I have to let frozen cookie dough defrost before baking?

A
It’s not necessary to let the cookie dough defrost. Place frozen cookies straight from the freezer on a prepared baking sheet and bake as directed, adding a few minutes to the suggested baking time.

Q
I’ve had some bad experiences trying to remove hot cookies from a baking sheet. Why can’t I just let my cookies cool completely on the sheet?

A
There is a good reason why most recipes instruct you to remove the cookies from the baking sheet immediately or after just a few minutes out of the oven and transfer them to a wire rack. Cooling the cookies on the rack allows air to circulate all around them. If cookies cool on the hot baking sheet, moisture from the cookies will condense on the pan and seep back into the cookies, making them soggy.