And That’s How The Cookie Crumbles

A few baking tips for successful cookies:

1. Egg-cellent. Crack your eggs on a flat surface. It helps to prevent the shell from splitting and you having to dig out shards. Get a piece of shell in there anyway? Use the larger still-in-tact shell to dig the shard out. They’ll stick together better (almost like a magnet) than using your fingers or a spoon.

While this is a flat surface, dropping an egg on the floor is an ineffective way to crack it.

2. Love Me Like a Rock. Brown sugar hard as a rock? You can use an apple slice or a piece of bread to help moisten the sugar. I’m sorry, though. I think putting an apple slice in with my sugar is gross. So I use a wet paper towel. Leave the paper towel in the bag of brown sugar overnight, then remove in the morning. You’ll have moist brown sugar for future use, no problem.

Soft and happy

3. Cool it, Homes. When your cookies are finished baking, remove them from the cookie sheet immediately. The heat of the sheet will continue to cook the cookies, thereby running the risk of overcooking them. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack where the heat can circulate. Lastly, be sure to let your cookie sheet completely cool before starting the next batch, which will help promote even heat distribution for baking.

Want to eat me? Recipe is below!

4. Protect Your Dough. I will make one batch of cookies and wrap the rest up for future baking. How to protect your dough? It’s about layering. Use wax paper, then foil, then a zippered plastic bag. Together your dough will be protected from freezer burn and should last two months or so. I have had no problems taking the dough out of the fridge to thaw and bake, then refreezing. 

Triple-Wrapped Protection

5. Batch Storage. Once your baked cookies are completely cooled, keep them fresh in a zippered plastic bag. They should keep for a few days in that condition.

And now that you’ve learned these fun lessons – here’s a recipe for Chocolate Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal Cookies!

Quality ingredients make great cookies. Everything else is operator error.

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

3/4 cups cinnamon chips

3/4 cups of chocolate chips

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350. Mix butter with sugars. Add eggs, vanilla.

Mix flour, baking soda and cinnamon together.

Add dry mixture to wet mixture.

Mix in oats.

Add cinnamon and chocolate chips.

Bake 8-11 minutes or until set. For cake-like cookies, increase flour by 1/4 cup. Will make about 48 cookies.