Creaming Butter and Sugar
Most cookie recipes begin by combining softened butter and sugar into creamy mass. This can be cone with a wooden spoon, a handheld mixer, or the paddle attachment of a stand mixer. The more you mix them together, the lighter and fluffier they become. Some recipes call for creaming the butter and sugar just until they are well combined. Follow the recipe. Overaerating the mix can cause certain doughs to spread too much in the oven.
Adding the Eggs
If the recipe calls for more than one egg, add the eggs one at a time, allowing each to be absorbed before adding the next. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl between additions.
Whipping
To incorporate air into light ingredients such as egg whites with sugar, mix them using a whisk, a handheld mixer, or the whip attachment of a stand mixer. Meringues are one of the few cookies that are whipped.
Combining Dry Ingredients
Once the flour, leavener, salt and spices have been sifted or whisked in a bowl, the dry ingredients need to be added to the mix. To prevent making a big mess, and to assure that all the dry ingredients make it into the mixing bowl, dump them onto a piece of waxed paper, lift it up by the ends, and shake them into the mix.
Adding the Flour
Flour contains proteins; when that protein comes in contact with moisture, strands of gluten are formed. As these strands are agitated - by stirring or kneading - they form a strong, elastic web. This web is good for bread, as it allows the dough to rise and expand. It's not good for cookies, however - it makes them tough. When adding flour to the mix, agitate it as little as possible so as not to activate the gluten. Do this by stirring in the flour by hand, or on low speed using an electric mixer. Mix just until the flour adsorbed into the dough.
Scraping the Bowl
Don't let lumps of butter or clumps of flour lurk on the bottom of the mixing bowl; they belong in the batter. Scrape around the sides and along the bottom of the bowl frequently with a rubber spatula to thoroughly incorporate the ingredients. Scrape down the bowl when creaming the butter and sugar, once again after adding the eggs, and a final time after adding the dry ingredients. When you bring up the unmixed stuff, beat for a few seconds to combine it into the mix before adding the next ingredients.
Scooped
For speed and consistency, professional bakers use an ice-cream scoop to dish out firm cookie dough. I keep a variety of spring-release scoops on hand for both large and small cookies. A rounded scoop gives a different-size cookie than a level scoup. Follow the recipe. If you make the balls of dough too large, you'll get fewer cookies from the batch and they'll take longer to bake.
Dropped
This is the way in which most people form chocolate chip cookies. Medium-firm dough is dropped off a spoon onto the baking sheet. Another spoon is used to nudge the batter off the first spoon. This technique is slow and cumbersome, and usually yields cookies of varying sizes. Try using an ice-cream scoop for dough that you normally drop from a spoon.
Piped
Loose doughs or stiff batters can be piped onto the baking sheet from a piping bag. The technique is quick and fun, and each dollop looks exactly like the last. To fill the bag, drop the tip down into the bag, turn back a cuff, then fill the bag using rubber spatula. For easy maneuvering, support the bag inside an empty water glass while you fill it. Once the bag is two-thirds full, twist the top to close it. Grasp the bag with one hand over the twist; use your other hand to support the tip of the bag. Hold the pastry bag upright at least 1/2 inch above the baking sheet, depending on the size of the cookie. Squeeze and release. With a little practice, you'll have perfect little piped-out cookies.
Hard-Formed
Cookies that are individually shaped by hand, such as balls, crescents, or logs, should all be the same size. Professional bakers have a trick to accomplish this. Roll the dough into an even log, then slice the log into small even pieces. Each of these pieces can then be formed into the shape you want.
Preparing the Baking Sheets
An easy way to lightly grease the baking sheets is to smear them with the wrapper from the stick of butter, or smear the stick of butter itself across the sheets.
Don't place cookie dough on a warm baking sheet - the butter in the mix will melt, affecting the texture of the cookie. To cool a baking sheet quickly, run it under cold water and dry it thoroughly. Or better yet, have at least three baking sheets on hand so you can prepare one while another is in the oven and the third is cooling.
Unless a baking sheet is particularly burned or crusty, simply wipe it clean with a paper towel between baking.
Baking
The first instruction in a recipe is one of the most important: Preheat the oven. This takes at least 15 minutes. Don't be impatient. A too-low oven temperature can result in dried-out cookies or cookies that don't rise or spread properly.
Except when making meringues, I bake one tray of cookies at a time. I find they bake evenly and quickly. If you want to bake two tray at once, switch and rotate them halfway through. Keep in mind they'll take a little longer to bake.
Place the baking sheet on a rack in the middle of the oven. If you're baking two trays of cookies, arrange the racks as close to the center as possible without crowding them too much.
Storing
Cookies are generally quick and easy to make. In most cases, you can whip up a batch on the spot - or just hours ahead of serving them. With the exception of twice-baked cookies such as biscotti and mandelbrot, or very crisp ones such as sugar cookies or gingerbread, cookies are almost always best eaten on the day they're made.
To store baked cookies, be sure they are completely cool first. Don't mix different flavors and textures in one container. Crisp Cookies will become soggy; the flavors will mix and mingle and nothing will taste as it should.
Wrapping Cookies
Plastic containers with tight-fitting lids can be used to store most cookies, but occasionally they make cookies limp. Some cookies, such as chocolate chip, may fare better in cookie jars, or left out on cooling racks overnight. Cookies can also be packaged in waxed paper that's covered tightly with foil.
Freezing Cookies
If you live in the humid Northeast USA (or the rainy Northwest, or the muggy South, or even the stormy Midwest), cookies can turn soft quickly. Freezing cookies keeps them fresher. Wrap them tightly in aluminum foil, then seal them in zip-lock bags, pressing all the air out. Theoretically you can freeze them for up to three months, but I think they're best eaten within two weeks.
Let the cookies thaw, partially unwrapped, at room temperature, or thaw and warm them in the oven at 350 degrees F for a few minutes. Place them on wire racks to cool as if they're fresh baked. They may not be quite as good as just-made but they'll be mighty good.
Refrigerating and Freezing Dough
To save time, and still have fresh-baked cookies on hand, refrigerate the dough for a few days, or freeze if for up to two weeks. Wrap it well in plastic wrap.
Dough that contains no leavening, such as shortbread and butter cookie dough, can be refrigerated quite successfully for up to three days. Dough that contains baking powder or soda will lose its lift within two days.
Left frozen dough thaw overnight in the refrigerator, unless the recipe specifies otherwise. If the dough cracks when you roll it, it's too cold. Divide it in sections and let it sit at room temperature, covered, until malleable but not too soft - 15 to 20 minutes.
When making scooped or dropped cookies with dough that has been refrigerated, let it come to room temperature until it has the consistency of fresh-made dough. The microwave can be used judiciously to speed up the softening. Use low power and check the dough every few seconds so that it doesn't get too soft.
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