Where have YOU BEEN?!? or COOKIE TIP #1

Well, ok, I am the one that's been MIA around here!  Life takes us many places we don't ever expect.  Mine took me away from posting on my blog!  Things happen - it's ok.  I forgive me for it, and I hope you will too!

That said, it's time to get back at it again, and this time, I have a plan.  What I would like to do (let's see if I can stick with this!) is use this forum for a way to share tips and ideas for you to use at YOUR house!  Rather than just posting all the different things I make (I do that on Facebook anyway) you might like to actually learn something.  

If you don't want to try any of it, that's ok too, but consider this a warning, you MAY actually want to jump in and try these things yourself!


So..... Here goes nothing!  
Tip #1 - Have you tried using cookie cutters to make a specific shape to decorate?  Most people that try this do Christmas cookies.  I grew up making rolled and cut sugar cookies every year, usually the weekend of Thanksgiving, by the hundreds.  It was a family tradition!  Thanksgiving weekend meant lots of dry, leftover turkey sandwiches and Christmas cookies!  Would you like to see some pictures of those early creations?!  I'd love to show you some, but alas, we did not photograph them.  But it's alright, I can tell you they were odd looking, goofy "gingerbread" men, over-puffed bells and stars and christmas trees.  Sometimes we even did reindeer, but you could never tell what they were!  Have you had this problem?  Read on for how to solve it!

There are 2 simple ways to reduce the spreading/puffing of your cookies as they bake. 
1 - Reduce or eliminate leavening agents.  
The worst culprits are baking soda and baking powder.  If either of these are in your recipe, try cutting it by half, or do what I do, and leave it out altogether!  If you don't want your dough spreading, why put in something who's only purpose is to make the dough spread!?  It's just silly!

(Ok, so I guess this is Tips 1 & 2.  Oh well.  They go together!)  

2 - Before you put your cut dough into the oven, make sure the dough is COLD!  How cold?  Well, I always put my tray of raw cookies into the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes before putting them into the oven.  When the metal tray feels cold to my touch, I figure it's good.  But the colder the better!  My favorite way to cool them is by putting the trays (covered with a lid of course!) on the back porch in the snowy dead of winter!  It's Michigan - They get REALLY cold in a hurry!

If you have trouble with puffy cookies that turn into unrecognizable blobs, try doing these 2 things and see what you think!  I'd love to hear your feedback if you do try it!  

Happy Baking!
~Nikki

Tips & Tricks for Better Cookies

Ok...so it has occured to me, that maybe I should blog about how to get cookies to turn out better.  I have had several people ask me how I get my cookies to come out the way they do - that being, well formed and beautifully cooked. If I do say so myself. (Sheepish grin here) The decoration is really the impressive part if you ask me, but people assume they can't do that part, and only ask for tips on the baking.  So here they are....my top tips for baking better cookies.

Tip #1 - USE PARCHMENT PAPER!!  I use parchment paper for 2 purposes.  I roll my dough out on it, and I bake on it.  I like it for rolling dough because that way I don't have to try to remove the cut shapes from my counter while trying not to distort them.  I still flour the surface (the paper) for rolling, I just roll them on the paper and cut them there too.  Then, once my parchment is full of cookies, I DO NOT put it directly in the oven (see tip #2) but I will bake them right on the paper.  Why?  Again, no transfer means better shapes, but also - they NEVER stick!  If you have ever broken or smooshed a cookie whilst scraping it off your cookie sheet, you will understand!

Tip #2 - Freeze the cut shapes!  I put my cookie sheet full of raw cut shapes into the freezer before they go in the oven.  Seems a bit odd, I know, but it really keeps the dough from spreading while it bakes.  Basically, I leave them in the freezer for the same amount of time I would bake them.  I rotate 3 cookie sheets.  One is in the freezer, the second is in the oven, and the third is cooling on the counter.

Tip #3 - This one, I just discovered this week!  When you chill the dough (and you HAVE to chill the dough to make it easier to work with) chill the dough flat!  I had been just sticking my dough in a bowl in the fridge all this time.  Don't get me wrong, it chills it just fine, and it works okay....but my new method is much better.  I take the pile of dough and plop it onto a long sheet of plastic wrap as soon as it's mixed up.  Then, fold the plastic wrap over it and flatten it out so it's about an inch thick.  I wrap the plastic around it so it's all covered, and then I can stick it on a tray in the fridge, and stack more flat dough on top if it.  It takes up less space in the refrigerator and it rolls out so much faster when you aren't starting with a lumpy pile scooped from the bowl.

Tip #4 - If you want very well formed cookies, you need to prevent them from spreading as they bake.  We are already adding the extra step in the freezer, and of course, rolling right on the parchment it will be baked on so we don't have to transfer them.  So, take it one step further and minimize the chemical reactions that cause spreading.  (Sorry, but I am a science geek through and through!) Specifically, drastically reduce or even eliminate the baking powder from the recipe.  My recipe orginally had 2 teaspoons of baking powder.  I have modified it over time and now I barely use 1/2 teaspoon!

For all you pros out there, these probably aren't tips at all, because I imagine you already know these things.  But, maybe I can help a few home bakers to perfect their holiday baking.  If you have any other great tips, please share them with us in the comments.  I am sure my readers would love to see what others have to say as well.