When it comes to questions about how to bake cookies perfectly, trust us when we say we’ve heard every question under the sun. From cookies that spread too much to those that don't spread enough, we know the struggle of trying to bake that perfect cookie. That’s why we’re sharing our tried-and-tested tips to help you achieve cookie perfection, each and every time.
And if you’d like to bake like a pro, check out our Bake at Home Kits and get everything you need to create our fabulous cookies in your own kitchen! Prefer us todo the baking? Explore our cookie delivery and have freshly baked cookies delivered to your door!
How to Bake Cookies Perfectly Every Single Time
To bake the perfect cookie, you must understand how each ingredient affects the outcome. From keeping the butter at the right temperature to selecting the best sugars, each step plays a crucial role in achieving the perfect bake.
Butter: The Foundation of Your Cookie
At Crumbs & Doilies, we use Lescure Butter, a high-quality French butter with a high fat content. Why is this important? Because the fat content and quality of your butter directly impacts the texture of your cookies. For perfect cookies, you want your butter to stay cold for as long as possible.
Top Tip: Chop the butter into cubes and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. Also, Avoid using margarine, as it contains oils and other ingredients that make it too soft at room temperature.
Sugar: Achieving the Right Texture and Sweetness
In our cookies, we use a mix of soft light brown sugar and caster sugar. Each sugar serves a different purpose:
- Caster sugar: Adds sweetness and a bit of structure to the cookie.
- Soft light brown sugar: Provides chewiness and a rich, caramel-like flavour.
If you prefer cookies that aren’t too sweet, consider upping the salt or reducing the vanilla content (if the recipe includes vanilla). You can also experiment with darker chocolate chips for a more bitter contrast.
Pro tip: Make sure to use fine caster sugar rather than coarser sugars like granulated sugar, which won’t dissolve as easily and could leave your cookies with an unpleasant gritty texture.
Mixing: Finding the Sweet Spot
Mixing cookie dough is more about consistency than timing. While it’s tempting to just mix for a set time, you should pay attention to how the dough looks and feels.
Aim to mix the dough for 30-40 seconds - just long enough to combine the ingredients. You should still see nuggets of butter and sugar, which will create the desirable chunky texture after baking.
Over-mixing can cause the dough to become too smooth, resulting in flat cookies.
Making Multiple Batches
If you’re making cookies for more people, doubling or even tripling a recipe seems like a great idea, and the great news is that you don’t need to change much in terms of ingredient proportions - just double or triple everything. But here is what to consider:
- Your equipment: Cookie dough can get heavy, especially when you’re working with larger quantities. Make sure your mixer can handle the weight of the dough.
- Oven temperature: Baking several trays back-to-back can cause the oven to overheat, affecting the bake. Give the oven a few minutes to cool down between batches if needed.
- Chilling time: If your recipe calls for chilling the dough, larger batches might need extra time in the fridge to firm up properly, which can help the cookies hold their shape while baking.
Flour: Plain vs. Self-Raising
When it comes to flour, you might find yourself wondering whether plain or self-raising flour is best for your cookies. The good news? Both can work!
If you’re substituting plain flour for self-raising flour, simply add 2 teaspoons of baking powder for every 150g of plain flour. This will give it the characteristics of self raising flour, without actually using it.
Cocoa
For those rich, chocolatey cookies, we swear by Dutch-processed cocoa. Its richer, smoother flavour takes it a step above regular natural cocoa powder. Dutch cocoa has a deeper, more intense flavour than its natural counterpart.
More Cookie Baking Tips
Looking for more tips? Don’t worry, we’ve put years of advice and experience into this guide!
How to Avoid Crumbly Dough
One of the most common issues bakers face is cookie dough that’s too crumbly, especially after adding the egg. If your dough seems too dry and won’t come together, the fix is simple - add more egg.
- Why this happens: Eggs come in various sizes, even if they’re all from the same pack. A large egg can range anywhere from 63g to 73g, and we usually recommend keeping a spare egg handy in case it's still too dry.
- How to tell when the dough is ready: Your cookie dough should be slightly crumbly but come away cleanly from the sides of the mixing bowl.
Why Are My Cookies Spreading Too Much?
If your cookies are spreading too much during baking, over-mixing is likely the culprit. When the batter is overmixed, they are more flat and probably less gooey inside (if you have chocolate inside) due to the cookie itself being thinner.
- Pro tip: Don’t mix your dough until it comes together in a solid lump. Instead, aim for a chunkier dough.
Why Are My Cookies Not Spreading Enough?
If your cookies aren’t spreading at all, the problem might lie in how cold your dough is when it enters the oven.
- Frozen dough: If your cookie balls are too cold - say, straight from the freezer - they won’t spread properly. This is because the outside of the cookie forms a crust before the inside has a chance to soften and spread.
- Pro tip: We set our freezers to -18°C. If your freezer runs colder and you can’t adjust it, lower your oven temperature slightly and do a lower and slower bake.
How to Roll Cookie Balls
When it comes to rolling your cookie dough into balls, the size of each portion matters. At Crumbs & Doilies, we typically portion our cookies into 125g balls.
- How to roll: Press the dough together gently, but don’t over-roll it into a perfectly smooth ball. Over-rolling can affect how your cookies bake and may cause them to spread too much.
- Baking smaller cookies: If you prefer smaller cookies, we recommend reducing the bake time rather than adjusting the oven temperature. This ensures the cookies bake evenly without becoming too crispy.
- Refrigerate your dough: After rolling, refrigerate the dough balls before baking. This helps keep the cookies chunky.
Oven Types and Temperatures
Baking cookies can be tricky, especially when it comes to getting your oven temperature just right. At Crumbs & Doilies, we always use fan ovens because they circulate heat evenly, ensuring consistent results. However, if you have a non-fan oven, don’t worry - you can still bake delicious cookies with a few simple adjustments.
- For non-fan ovens: Increase the temperature by 20°C to match the power of a fan oven. This helps make up for the lack of air circulation.
- Test for hotspots: Non-fan ovens often have uneven heating, so you may notice certain areas where your cookies bake faster or slower. You can use an oven thermometer to identify any hotspots.
How Do I Know When My Cookies Are Baked?
A common question is how to know when cookies are done, especially since they often feel soft when they come out of the oven. Look for a golden-brown crust - this signals they’re baked to perfection. Even if they feel soft in the centre when you take them out, they’ll firm up as they cool. Avoid baking until they’re hard, as they’ll continue to set after they’re out and could end up too crisp or biscuit-like.
Final Thoughts
Baking cookies perfectly every single time doesn’t have to be a challenge, as long as you pay attention to a few key details. From the quality of your butter to the exact oven temperature, every step plays an important role in ensuring your cookies are perfect.
Here’s a quick recap:
- Butter: Keep it cold to control cookie spreading and texture.
- Sugar: Use a mix of caster sugar for sweetness and soft light brown sugar for chewiness / caramel flavour.
- Mixing: Don’t over-mix your dough - aim for a chunky texture with visible butter and sugar nuggets.
- Temperature: Use an oven thermometer to ensure the correct temperature, and adjust if using a non-fan oven.
- Storage: Keep cookies fresh by storing them in tupperware. If you are eating them after they have gone cold, reheat them at 170°C for 5 minutes in the oven to revive that freshly baked taste.
Ready to give it a try? Grab one of our Bake at Home Kits or order our beautiful Cookies straight to your door!
Recommended Guides: