Troubleshooting Cookies by Bridget

You have to mess up a cookie pretty badly for me not to eat it. That said, sometimes cookies don’t turn our quite as well as we’d planned.

Let’s talk about a few cookie woes and troubleshooting tips to go with them.

 
 

Overly toasted bottoms

(Ha. Toasted bottoms. I feel like there’s a heated car seat joke in there.)

I don’t like my cookie bottoms overly toasted. Here’s the solution: parchment paper. Parchment paper protects cookie bottoms and leaves them just lightly golden.

 
 

Uneven baking

Can you see in the photo how the cookies on the top are browner and spread more than the others? If this happens to you, your oven may have a hot spot.

 
 

To check, fill a cookie sheet with bread slices. Bake at 350ºF for about 15 minutes.

 
 

If you notice any uneven browning, you have a hot spot. Once you know, make sure to rotate your pans during baking.

 
 

Burnt edges or overly browned/burnt cookies

Two factors could be at play here:

1. Be sure you’re not baking on a dark-colored baking sheet. These cause cookies to bake and darken faster.

2. The butter is too soft or melted. Melting butter in the microwave can lead to uneven butter temperature as well. Here’s our Food & Friends post on softening butter. If your recipe calls for softened butter, use one of the tips there. I find for most cookie recipes, cold butter cut into chunks works just fine as long as you cream it well with the sugar.

 
 

Spreading cookies

I make a lot of decorated cookies and the one question I probably get asked the most is, “how do I keep my cookies from spreading?” Easy—once you cut shapes with a cookie cutter, pop the cut-outs into the freezer for 5–10 minutes before baking. This helps reduce the spread and keep your cookies looking like the shape you intended.

It’s also helpful to use a cookie recipe made specifically for cut-outs. Not all sugar cookies are made to hold their shape.

 
 

Burnt chocolate and messy pans

Parchment paper—I can’t sing its praises enough. It keeps cookies (or anything) from sticking to the pan, and for chocolate chip cookies especially, it protects the chips from burning.

 
 

Dry cookies

At first glance, I’d probably choose the puffier cookie on the right. The problem is, this recipe wasn’t made for poofy, soft cookies. The cookie on the right spread less in the oven, but it’s also very dry. The problem: too much flour.

 
 

When measuring flour, always use the spoon and sweep method. Use a spoon to fill the measuring cup, then run a straight edge (like the spoon handle) across the top to level.

 
 

My cookie biggest issue? Not being able to stop at just one. If anyone has a troubleshooting tip for that, I’m all ears!