Question: Help! I thought baking cookies was a simple task, but every time I bake they just seem to melt all over the pan.
Answer: Chill out. Really, I mean it. When cookies spread on baking sheets it’s probably because the dough was not properly chilled. In addition, greasing pans too much can cause cookies to slide into a thin mess. If you continue to have problems, check your ingredients. For example, diet, whipped or liquid margarine spreads are full of air and water and will affect how the dough reacts to heat.
Here are some more baking tips:
– Use unsalted butter to control the amount of salt and for the best flavor. Margarine is softer and more oily than butter, which can cause problems with trying to form cookies with a press.
– Shiny, heavy-gauge cookie sheets with low or no sides are recommended. Metal browns more evenly than glass bakeware. Avoid dark sheets as they may cause bottoms to bake faster and overbrown. Insulated cookie sheets tend to yield pale cookies with soft centers — and if you bake cookies on them until brown on the bottom, the rest of the cookie may become too dry.
– Cool cookies before storing. Most cookies can be frozen two to three months. Cookies and bars can be stored at room temperature in a covered container for four days before getting stale. If toppings are sticky, layer cookies between sheets of wax paper. Most dough can be refrigerated up to two days and frozen up to three months.
– If dough is too sticky, it has not been properly chilled or not enough flour was used. If dough is soft after chilling, add flour a couple tablespoons at a time until dough is easy to work with. Work with only a small amount of dough, keeping the remainder in refrigerator.
– If the dough is too dry to work with, dribble in milk or cream until dough reaches desired consistency.
– Line baking pans with parchment paper to keep cookies from sticking.
– To keep cookies from breaking when removing from the baking sheets, let pans cool for 2 minutes before transferring to racks.
– If cookies bake unevenly, the dough may not be rolled out evenly. Also, oven may have uneven heat. Rotating the baking sheets midway through will help.
