ISO help/tips/advice making cookies

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Also.... just bought a thermometr. On sale for $10. I preheat the oven to 350. It says 300 on the thermometer.... alas...

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Good idea. I'd be sure to leave the thermometer for a while after the oven indicates it's up to temp and monitor the fluctuations.

Check your oven instruction manual. Some ovens have a means of adjusting the temps so it really is 350º when the oven says it is.
 
Ok. So I made the cookies using the Land O Lakes recipe. Good news first. There are only 4 left. They were amazing. Bad news. The dough was the consistency of Play Dough. I lost one of my two cheap-o-matic hand mixers. I took them out at 12 minutes. I don't have a cooling rack but they did ok on plates.


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Those look amazing Ohio, how did they taste?
I would agree with DL, prior to getting a stand mixer,
I did the same thing, cream the sugar and butter
with the hand mixer and then switch to a very stout wooden spoon
(I love my Kitchen Aid)
 
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Those look amazing Ohio, how did they taste?
I would agree with DL, prior to getting a stand mixer,
I did the same thing, cream the sugar and butter
with the hand mixer and then switch to a very stout wooden spoon
(I love my Kitchen Aid)
My wife said she really wants me to make more. And that's saying something, because she brings up my first time baking brownies (8 years ago) - when we had no eggs, but I decided to try to make it anyway. So she tells everyone of the crusty pudding dish I made for her when she was pregnant with our oldest.
 
Ok. So I made the cookies using the Land O Lakes recipe. Good news first. There are only 4 left. They were amazing. Bad news. The dough was the consistency of Play Dough. I lost one of my two cheap-o-matic hand mixers. I took them out at 12 minutes. I don't have a cooling rack but they did ok on plates.


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ya know, some Dollar Stores offer cooling racks, not the best, but if you're just starting out and don't want invest too much in baking, what the heck, right? I think you get 2 or 3 for a buck.
 
I've done fairly well with the chocolate chip land o lakes recipe. But the sugar cookies turn out fliffy. I like them crispy on the outside and chewy on the onside. Flat. Not like a muffin top.

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I've done fairly well with the chocolate chip land o lakes recipe. But the sugar cookies turn out fliffy. I like them crispy on the outside and chewy on the onside. Flat. Not like a muffin top.

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I can't believe that I missed this thread!

How are you measuring your flour? Are you dipping your cup into the flour? The proper way it's to stir the flour and lightly spoon into the measuring cup and level it off. Scooping packs in too much flour into the cup. And can cause them to be dry. Also make sure that you are using dry measuring cups for dry stuff and liquid measuring cups for liquids.

As others said, margarine can be all over the map as far as water content goes. Fat lends moisture and tenderness to baked goods, if there is too much water in the margarine it can cause a drier, less tender cookie.
 
I can't believe that I missed this thread!

How are you measuring your flour? Are you dipping your cup into the flour? The proper way it's to stir the flour and lightly spoon into the measuring cup and level it off. Scooping packs in too much flour into the cup. And can cause them to be dry. Also make sure that you are using dry measuring cups for dry stuff and liquid measuring cups for liquids.

As others said, margarine can be all over the map as far as water content goes. Fat lends moisture and tenderness to baked goods, if there is too much water in the margarine it can cause a drier, less tender cookie.


I scoop. I'll try stirring and spooning. I like spooning anyway :rolleyes:
 
Well, I think I am going to take a break on the cookies. I have gained 20 of the 25 lbs I lost over the last year... I may head over to the grilling/veggie areas...

But I loves me some cookies... Grrrr
 
My wife have been trying to make sugar cookies to my liking and she just cannot. Her chocolate chips cookies are awesome. They are famous at mine and her work, our synagogue, people just love them. Her sugar cookies, eh, not so much.
I love my sugar cookies soft and crumbly, and I like sugar sprinkled on the top stay on the top. What she make sis chew and sugar doesn't stay on the top.
Does anybody have a good recipe? Please help.
 
My wife have been trying to make sugar cookies to my liking and she just cannot. Her chocolate chips cookies are awesome. They are famous at mine and her work, our synagogue, people just love them. Her sugar cookies, eh, not so much.
I love my sugar cookies soft and crumbly, and I like sugar sprinkled on the top stay on the top. What she make sis chew and sugar doesn't stay on the top.
Does anybody have a good recipe? Please help.

CharlieD, I made this recipe this year for my Spritz cookies, which when you get down to brass tacks, are really just sugar cookies.
Spritz Cookies | Land O'Lakes
They came out GREAT! They were a huge hit! It's a very nice dough and presses easily.
001.jpg

002.JPG
 
When my waistline gets back to a manageable size, I may have to settle for the dough in a tube... :(

Oh please NOOO!
Make up a batch of cookie dough, roll it into a log, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, followed by heavy-duty tinfoil... FREEZE!
You can slice of 'cookies' as you would with that tube "stuff", I'll do this and only make one tray of cookies and it's much better!!!
Try this and let me know how you do.
 
Ok. I am really not a good baker. I have made many batches of cookies and I never do it right. Same recipes. Followed the best I could to the letter. And they don't turn out right.
Last batch of sugar cookies... I looked for a recipe that showed the kind I like. Flat, buttery, and chewy. I followed the recipe. They turned out puffy and dry. They tasted ok, but they weren't what I saw in the picture. It was like bread. Same thing when I follow my family's chocolate chip cookie recipe. The texture is all off, and the taste is different. They taste ok, but just not how they make em.
Can anyone break it down to me on what I may be doing wrong? Especially for the sugar cookies. I have a craving for them again and I wanna bake a batch tonight.
Flour can be an issue with any sort of baking from bread to biscuits. Even different batches of the same brand can absorb different amounts of liquid/fat.

Keep practising and you'll get to know the "feel" of the dough.
 
I've been doing better with the chocolate chip cookies. It's the sugar cookies that I just cant get the hang of - I made one decent batch, tried to replicate it, and caplooey - Not a bad taste, but the texture was not what I like. I like crispy outside, chewy inside. Firm, but pliable. Not brittle. Not the kind that I buy at the store with frosting on them... not the pale color, more of a brown color. I'll keep trying multiple attempts at different recipes - I'll try the land o lakes one too
 
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