Use This Method For Perfect Cut-Out Cookies Every Time (2024)

FAQs

What is the trick to cut out cookies? ›

How do I prevent the cookie cutters from sticking to the dough? Dip your cookie cutters in flour with each cut. Work from the center of the rolled-out dough to the edges, cutting shapes close to one another to prevent extra scraps and extra rerolling.

It holds its shape, and one major trick is that after you make your dough, you'll roll it out, cut out your cookie shapes, and then put them on a lined baking sheet and only then PUT THEM IN THE FREEZER for 10 minutes, then straight into the oven after. No cooling and then rolling. You roll, cut, and then cool!

Simply place the cookie cutter around one of the cookies on the baking sheet. (It should be bigger than the cookie, and therefore not cut off any of the edges.) Then, use the cookie cutter to mold the edges of the cookie from uneven to perfectly round, using a swirling motion.

Withdraw the toothpick. If there are lots of crumbs or batter on the wood, then the cookies are not quite done. It's important to use wood skewers or toothpicks. Metal ones do not work as well as the crumbs will simply slide off.

Should I grease my cookie sheets? Unless the recipe tells you to grease the cookie sheet, resist the impulse. The extra grease causes cookie dough (which already contains a lot of fat) to spread. If you're concerned about cookies sticking, line the cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone non-stick mat.

Q: Why are my cookies so puffy and cakey? Whipping too much air into the dough. That fluffy texture you want in a cake results from beating a lot of air into the room temperature butter and sugar, and it does the same for cookies. So don't overdo it when you're creaming together the butter and sugar.

Make-up Techniques

This refers to the way in which the cookie is prepared after the dough has been made. For example, there are drop, icebox, bar, sheet, cut out, pressed, rolled, molded or wafer.

How do you measure a perfect cookie? ›

STEP 1: I use a 1 Tablespoon cookie scoop but if you don't have a cookie scoop you can also use a 1 Tablespoon measuring spoon. STEP 2 & STEP 3: I use my cookie scoop or a measuring spoon, and I scoop 2 cookie dough scoops into my hand which equals 2 Tablespoons of cookie dough for each cookie dough ball.

The easiest thing to do is to brush the tops of the cookies with a little bit of water or milk, using just enough to dampen the cookie dough and no more. This will help the sprinkles stick and won't change the finished appearance of the cookie when you're done baking.

All you have to do is take the baked cookies from the oven, place a mug (or a glass) over the still warm dough, do a little swirl and voilà, perfectly round cookies.

Making your cupcakes and cookies a uniform size is a matter of scooping out the mixture equally before baking.

Butter contributes milk solids and water to a cookie, both of which soften it. Brown sugar contributes molasses – again, a softener. Using lower-moisture sugar (granulated) and fat (vegetable shortening), plus a longer, slower bake than normal, produces light, crunchy cookies.

And there are no baking police: If your recipe tells you to flatten your cookies before baking, you just go ahead and do that however you want. So long as they end up evenly flat, that is; squashing cookies haphazardly under your palm means they may bake and brown unevenly.

Wooden skewers or metal skewers are both good substitutes. If you're using wooden skewers, make sure to soak them in water for at least 30 minutes before using them in the oven. This will help prevent them from burning. What is this?

The very best sugar cookies are soft and tender. → Follow this tip: One of the keys to great sugar cookies is mixing the dry ingredients only until they're just incorporated, and not a second longer. Once the dry ingredients are added, less mixing equals more tender cookies.

2) Spray your cookie sheets with Pam Cooking Spray before lining them with your cookie dough. It will help the cookies slide of the pan without any problems.

Oven Temperature

For chewy cookies, allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 3 to 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. For crispier cookies, let cookies cool for one minute on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

Should I use butter or Crisco for cookies? ›

Cookies made with only butter may not rise as much and may spread a bit more, but the edges will be crispier and will have a rich buttery taste. Cookies made with only shortening will result in a cookie that bakes higher and holds its shape better during baking.

Refrigerating the dough allows the flour to fully hydrate and helps to make the cookie dough firmer. Firm dough prevents the cookies from spreading too much, which is why chilling the dough is a crucial step for cut-out and rolled cookies.

Warm the dough

Warming cold dough makes it easier to roll out or hand stretch pizza dough because of the protein in gluten that makes pizza dough chewy and stretchy. Additionally, if you have proofed pizza dough at room temperature for an hour or two, and turned it into a dough ball, you can skip this step.

Chilling cookie dough before baking solidifies the fat in the cookies. As the cookies bake, the fat in the chilled cookie dough takes longer to melt than room-temperature fat. And the longer the fat remains solid, the less cookies spread.

If you mix (or roll out) cookie dough too much, you'll add excess air to the dough, causing it to rise and then fall flat in the oven. Overmixing the dough can also lead to excess gluten development, resulting in dense cookies.

The cookie sheet may be too large for the oven and not allowing sufficient heat circulation. The heat is trapped under the pan and the cookies will burn on the bottom before the tops are brown. We recommend at least 1 to 1 1/2 inches around the cookie sheet.

Chilling the dough also improves the way your cookies taste. "In terms of flavor, you'll notice more depth of flavor from the vanilla and the sugar will taste sweeter," says Haught Brown. "In terms of texture, chilled cookie dough produces a more evenly golden-brown cookie with a crisper edge and chewier center."

Do you cut cookies before or after baking? Cut your cookie dough before baking it. Once the cookies are baked, it'll be more difficult to get a clean cut.

The most common reason that cookies are tough is that the cookie dough was mixed too much. When flour is mixed into the dough, gluten begins to form. Gluten helps hold baked goods together, but too much gluten can lead to tough cookies.