I want to talk about cookies today. I feel like cookies are the substance of life, relationships, and love. My love language is food, I admit it! Cookies are on the top of my “showing the love” list. So I just want to share my experience with cookie baking. Let’s begin with the tools.
It took me years to realize that if I’m going to make a lot of cookies I should buy a heavy duty stand mixer. Mixing cookies by hand is labor intensive even though it can be a good upper body workout! So if you want to enjoy cookie making you should begin with a good stand mixer.
The second important tool for cookie baking is a “cookie” scoop. Now this may not be labeled as such at the kitchen store. It looks like an ice cream scoop to me. They come in many sizes and you really need a couple, 2oz., 3oz.,4oz., etc. I spent many years “dropping by teaspoon”, trust me that was for the birds. Scooping cookies saves time and effort. You can do it with one hand, leaving the other for drinking coffee or chatting with a friend on the phone.
Thirdly, I believe that a good cooling rack is essential. For years I was a firm believer in using old newspapers to cool cookies on. A very sweet woman, named Lu, taught me that. I always felt like I was recycling and that was a good enough reason to use them. But over time, I realized that the racks work best. Don’t buy the cheap flimsy ones, get the heavy duty sturdy ones. They cost a little more but they last forever. I promise you will not be replacing them in your lifetime.
So now we have all the right equipment, let’s talk a little about technique. The best advice I can give you about baking cookies is to read the instructions. This is not an attempt at humor. Seriously, sometimes we fail to read our recipes thoroughly. If a cookie recipe says, “do not over mix,’ then don’t over mix. If it says, “mix well,” then mix well. Sometimes we just read over these minor details but, as I tell my children, they knew that it was important and shared it for a reason!
Cookies are personal at our house. We prefer them to be chewy and not over baked.
While I recognize that some enjoy a “crisper” cookie, this is personal for my family. So my next comment is to be sure you set the timer while baking and always set it to go off ahead of time. This is so you don’t over bake your cookies.
Probably one of the most difficult things for me to do when baking cookies is to leave them on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes before trying to transfer them to the rack. I know why this is difficult for me, one reason is that I’m always in a hurry because I want to use the pan for another batch of cookies and the other is because I have four children that don’t want to wait for them to cool. However, if allowed to cool properly the average cookie will slide right off of the pan.
At our house the cookies can be ready by the time the oven is preheated. We have memorized the recipe and have it timed. Over the years I have made many batches of cookies for our family and friends. Today, I made some for family friends and my mom. It felt good to share the love!
