Holiday Cookie-Making Secrets: How to Do it Right

by Aariana Adams

"A balanced diet is a cookie in both hands." --A wise but unknown source

Cookies just won't let us grow up. Diet be-darned - our hand finds its way to the cookie jar. From childhood to adult, we love the smell of baking cookies, the anticipation of a hot one straight from the oven, the contentment of knowing they may last until tomorrow.

For the love of cookies, here are some baking secrets that will make your holiday baking the easiest and best yet.

Mixing:
Unless otherwise instructed, let all ingredients come to room temperature before mixing. Do not use an electric mixer unless specified. Mixing by hand yields a denser, firmer cookie. Caution: Over-mixing or vigorously beating makes the cookies tough.

The Ingredients:

"Butter, softened" means not too firm, too cold or almost melted. Too cold or too firm makes it impossible to "cream" properly. Let butter stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes. If the butter is not holding its shape, it's too soft.
Shortening vs. Butter vs. Margarine: Cookie-bakers get emotional over this debate. Solid shortening melts slower than butter - and that's better! Butter or margarine can make cookies spread out and get thin, changing the desired texture. An option is to try one-half real butter and one-half solid shortening. Butter and margarine are considered interchangeable, but margarine is oilier than butter. Butter adds that scrumptious "buttery" flavor, and yields a crisp cookie. If substituting margarine for butter or solid shortening, use only the stick variety (not "tub" margarine). Do not substitute vegetable oil for solid shortening, butter or margarine. Follow the recipe. If the consistency isn't quite right, experiment. Caution: For Butter cookies, or Shortbread cookies, it is essential to use only real butter.
Use large eggs unless otherwise specified. Too much or too little liquid can make a dramatic change in the cookie's consistency. Too much liquid may cause too much spreading, and too little liquid may cause the cookie to puff up. Using a medium egg or a jumbo egg, when a large egg is specified, can result in a lesser-quality cookie.
Always use all-purpose flour (no sifting), unless otherwise specified.

Add-in Ingredients:

For the finest chocolate taste, skip the chocolate chips. Buy the finest, creamiest chocolate bar your taste buds can detect and chop it by hand. Your chocolate chip cookies will be delectable.
Re-hydrate dried fruits before adding to the cookie dough. Let raisins, currants and cranberries plump in very hot water for about five minutes, then strain and drain.
For flavorful, fresh tasting nuts, toast before adding to the dough. Spread nuts whole or chopped, on a baking sheet. Toast at 350 degrees for about four minutes until golden and fragrant.

Baking Sheets:

For even baking and browning, use a cookie sheet with no sides.
Most bakers like shiny pans but some prefer the darker variety. A heavy-gauge pan is probably the most important factor.
The cookie sheet should be smaller than the oven by about two inches all around, to enable the best heat distribution.
The cookie sheet should always be cool or at room temperature. The cookie dough should be cool or at room temperature, or fill the cookie sheet. Pop it in the freezer for about five minutes, then immediately pop it in the oven. This is especially good for cookies made with butter.
Unless the recipe specifies, do not grease the cookie sheet. If you must grease the pan, use solid shortening. Using parchment paper may keep sticky cookie varieties from sticking.
Bake only one cookie sheet at a time, unless your oven is quite large. If baking more than one cookie sheet, bake them side-by-side rather than one above the other, and use identical baking sheets. When baking sheets are of unequal thickness or height, it can affect crisping, baking time, and the way the cookie spreads and browns. If baking more than one pan, rotate the pans, front to back, halfway through the baking time. Caution: Baking times may change when baking multiple pans.
Let the baking sheet cool before re-greasing.
Completely fill the cookie sheet. A partially filled sheet may not bake evenly. For leftover dough, use a smaller pan, invert a metal pie pan(s) or use a pizza pan to bake up the last precious few.

The Oven:

Always pre-heat the oven for 30 minutes.
Check the cookies two to three minutes before the minimum baking time. If you like a softer, chewier cookie, try under baking by a minute or two.

Cooling:
Remove cookies from the cookie sheet as soon as possible. Some cookies may be ready for the cooling rack immediately, and others may need more time. Cool on a cooling rack to avoid soggy cookies.

Storing:

Cool completely before storing.
Use containers with tight-fitting lids or freezer-quality plastic bags. Store fragile cookies between layers of waxed paper.
Store crisp cookies separately from soft cookies. Different flavors should be stored separately. Ignore this and all your cookies may taste alike.
Most cookies can be frozen. Use airtight containers and wrap well within the container. For iced cookies, do the icing after removing from the freezer. Freeze bar cookies before cutting.
To thaw, remove the lid and partially loosen the inside wrapping.
To warm, place frozen cookies on a cookie sheet and heat at about 250 degrees for a few minutes. This works for crisping a languid cookie, as well.

Displaying or Serving:
Let the cookies shine. Use smaller plates or platters and arrange only one or two cookie types on each. Display each type together. Big platters get messy and look picked-over. Let replacing the cookies be an act of adoration.