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Cookie Baking, Storing & Shipping Tips
- Judy Anne Wagner from Boone, North Carolina writes: "Whenever
I make cookie dough, I double the ingredients and bake only what I need
at that time. I load the remaning mix into 7 oz paper cups, placing
these cups into a ziplock bag to freeze for future baking. One 7 oz
cup holds enough dough for about a dozen freshly baked cookies. One
mixing mess to clean up, and freshly baked cookies whenever you want
them!"
- Maryann Bille from Barberton, Ohio says she keeps her brown
sugar wraped in another plastic bag in the freezer to make it last longer
without hardening. Take it out to thaw about 15 minutes before you need
to use it, then return the remaining portion to the freezer.
- Plain, sturdy cookies, such as drop cookies like Chocolate Chip or
Oatmeal Raisin, make the best travelers.
- To insure that cookies arrive in the best possible condition, carefully
pack them between layers of waxed paper in a rigid tin. Use crumpled
waxed paper to fill in any extra space. Then pack this tin in a larger,
sturdy shipping box. Pad the area around the box with crumpled paper
or other packing material, seal and address.
- If you're using cookie cutters to make cut-out, decorated cookies,
smaller designs are less likely to break in transit than larger cookies.
- Cool cookies completely before storing or they will get soft and sticky.
- When storing soft or decorated cookies, separate layers with sheets
of waxed paper so they don't stick together.
- Soft cookies will stay fresher, longer if they are stored with a slices
of apple or a slice of bread (change the apple or bread slice every
day).
- With the exception of meringue based cookies or those with very thin
batters, most cookie doughs can be made ahead of time and kept in the
refrigerator (for a few days) or the freezer (for up to 3 months). Wrap
dough tightly in plastic wrap for the fridge or plastic wrap and aluminum
foil for the freezer. Bake when convenient.
- When making drop cookies, make a large batch, form into balls and
freeze on cookie sheet. When frozen put into zip lock bags and store
in freezer. Later, just remove amount needed from freezer, place on
cookie sheets and bake while still frozen. This way you will always
have a variety of cookies on hand.
- Wrapped, frozen logs of cookie dough, packed with baking instructions,
make wonderful gifts.
- Most baked cookies and brownies can also be frozen, well sealed, in
airtight containers. Decorated cookies, or those low in fat, unfortunately,
do not freeze well.
- Store fragile cookies in a shallow tin instead of a deep cookie jar
or crock as extra weight will brak the delicate treats.
- Brownie or cookie crumbs make a great ice cream topping.
- If you live in a dry climate, store crisp cookies in a loosely covered
container.
- If you live in a humid climate, store crips cookies in an airtight
container.
- Cookies with a high butterfat content will usually stay fresh for
a week or longer in a tightly covered container.
- Empty coffee cans make perfect storage (or transporting) containers
for cookies.
- Use a stencil or even a paper cutout doily to quickly decorate cakes
and cookies. Simply put stencil on baked goods and sift powdered sugar
or cocoa powder over. Carefully remove stencil and you'll have a beautiful
design left.
- For rich vibrant food colors, use paste, rather than liquid colors
for decorating doughs and icings.
- Here's a fun way to let the kids "paint" their own cookies. Make cookie
paint by mixing food coloring with egg yolks. Let the kids paint pictures
on the cookie, before baking. After baking, the colors will come out
bright and glossy.
- For small, quick piping jobs, when you don't want to dig out the pastry
bags, use a small zipper top plastic bag. Fill with icing, remove excess
air, seal the top and snip off a tiny bit of one corner. You're now
ready to pipe away!
- For soft chocolate chip cookies, bake at 325 degrees F until golden
brown. For crisper cookies, bake the same dough at 350 degrees F (again
until golden brown).
- Unless a recipe specifies otherwise, drop cookies should be removed
from the baking sheet soon after coming out of the oven.
- If you want the chocolate chips in chocolate chip cookies to retain
their shape better, freeze them before adding to your cookie or cake
batters.
- Small ice cream scoops are perfect for making uniformly sized drop
cookies.
- When re-rolling scraps of cookie dough, dust the surface with equal
parts flour and confectioner's sugar. This will help keep the dough
from getting tough.
- Be careful not to over mix cookie dough after adding flour as this
can over-develop the gluten in the flour, resulting in one tough cookie.
- To keep cookie cutters (especially plastic ones) from sticking to
cookie dough, lightly coat them in some vegetable oil.
- Cookies made with corn oil or corn oil margarine are softer than cookies
made with butter or other types of margarines.
- Make your own custom shaped cookie cutters by using a cardboard cutout
pattern and a sharp knife to cut around the cookie dough.
- It's easier to transfer shaped cookies to cookie sheets, if you remove
the scraps from around the cut out shapes first.
- For fewer scraps and less rolling when making cookies, start cutting
on the outside edges and work your way in towards the center.
- When making sandwich cookies, make sure to only cut the cookies half
as thick as you normally would.
- When slicing cylinders of ice box cookies, be sure to roll the dough
every other cut so the bottom of the cylinder doesn't flatten out.
- Be sure to rotate baking sheets from the top to bottom shelves mid
cycle when baking cookies to insure even browning. Even the best ovens
can build up hot spots in certain areas.
- To avoid breaking and crumbling, cool bar cookies and cakes completely
before cutting.
- To put an end to the chewy versus cake-like brownie debate - the more
eggs in a batter, the lighter and more cake-like the brownie will be.
Less eggs mean, denser, chewier brownies.
- To get confectioner's sugar to stick to cookies, sprinkle while they
are still warm.
- A fun cookie project for kids is "Cookie Pizzas". Make large round
sugar cookies, then let the kids top their own "pizzas" with various
toppings: chocolate chips, tinted coconuts, jelly bean or other candies.
- Need a fun activity to keep a group of kids occupied? Have a cookie
decorating party. Bake large cookies in advance. Cover a worktable with
a plastic disposable cover, lay out various bowls of colored icings
and various topping and candies for decorations. The kids will take
it from there and everyone goes home from the party with a souvenir.
- Want to make chocolate chip cookies, but are out of chocolate chips?
Get creative and raid the pantry. Some tasty alternatives that will
usually work well mixed into any chocolate chip cookie recipe include:
raisins, dates, coconut, nuts, chopped candy bars, toffee bits and dried
fruits.
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