Here are some tips that I am sharing on cookie baking. All these tips are gathered via my online research in resolving the many queries whilst baking and also includes some from my baking experiences.
Hope they can be handy for some of you too!
Problems BEFORE BAKED (with dough):
1. Wet Dough
2. Dry Dough
Problems AFTER BAKED (with cookies):
1. Cookies dry & hard
Hope they can be handy for some of you too!
Problems BEFORE BAKED (with dough):
1. Wet Dough
- Causes: Some recipes are time-sensitive due to certain ingredients called for. Dough might turn sticky during longer delayed mixing process. Too little flour or dough not chilled can be the reason too.
- Solution: Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill in fridge before rolling. Whilst mixing, notice the consistency of the dough, if you feel it is too wet, add slightly more flour in & mix.
2. Dry Dough
- Causes: Too much flour or not enough butter.
- Solution: Add few drops of water or milk into dough to the right consistency (till you do not see crack lines in dough).
Problems AFTER BAKED (with cookies):
1. Cookies dry & hard
- Causes: Excessive water/salt or not enough fats content in recipe.
- Solution: Mix water a little at a time so that you can judge the consistency as you knead the dough. Measure carefully the salt/butter ingredient with measuring cup/spoons, leveling the top evenly.
- Causes: Either not using baking sheet or removal of cookies when they are still hot from the oven.
- Solution: Always use baking sheet or the silicone baking mat that can be sold in the market. You may find one here. Remember to allow cookies to cool and harden before removing from the tray.
- Causes: Use of margarine to replace butter, use of vegetable oil to replace butter/margarine/shortening. Possibility of inaccurate flour measurement i.e. not enough.
- Solution: If recipe did not state alternative for vegetable oil on butter/margarine, stick to it. Vegetable oil is oilier than butter/margarine/shortening. Margarine is softer & oilier than butter/shortening. Chill cookie dough for 30mins-1hour before baking might help reduce oil from releasing too much upon baking.
4. Cookies not chewy
- Causes: Wrong flour and sugar used. Lacking of certain key ingredients as well. White sugar makes crispier cookies.
- Solution: Usually bread flour mix with cake flour yearns chewy texture. Use 1/2 brown & 1/2 white sugar (use dark brown instead of light brown sugar). Use 2 egg yolks for 1 whole egg to add extra moisture to cookie. Use baking powder (1 tsp to 1 cup flour) instead of baking soda. Remove cookies from oven while it is still soft to trap moisture within.
- Causes: Baking time. Wrong fats used. Wrong sugar used.
- Solution: Bake a little longer if the cookies are still not crispy after settling on rack for 10mins to cool. Use all butter, not oil and do not melt the butter. Replace recipe that calls for egg with milk to make crispier cookies. Use white sugar and not brown sugar. You may substitute 1 tbsp sugar with 1 tbsp corn syrup.
