Tips, Tricks, & FAQs

If you're attempting a stuffed cookie recipe and your cookies are spreading too much, you probably put too much filling inside. The more moisture you add to the center of the cookie, the more it will spread.

If you want to get those thick New York style gourmet cookies you'll want to make sure to ALWAYS do these 3 things:

1. Immediately after making your cookie dough scoop it out into even sized dough balls and form them into tall mounds.

2. Refrigerate the dough mounds overnight before baking them.

3. Avoid over-mixing your cookie dough. Especially at the stage of adding dry ingredients. Only mix just until the dough is formed.

Baked goods generally get dark on the bottom when you bake them on dark baking sheets. To avoid this use lighter colored baking sheets and line them with parchment paper.

Depending on the size of your cookie the following items will help you achieve perfectly round cookies:

• The opening of a mason jar

• Tart ring (these come in all different sizes. I use a 6 inch)

• Coffee mug

As soon as you take your cookies out of the oven, use any of these three items to swirl around the edges of the cookie to shape them up.

The edges are probably baking too fast while the middle doesn’t get enough time to cook through. This often happens if your oven is too hot. Try lowering the oven temperature by about 10-15 degrees and bake them a little longer. And don’t forget to let them cool on the pan they baked on for 20-30 minutes; they’ll continue to set and firm up as they cool down.

If your cookies are coming out pale, it’s probably because your oven temperature is too low, or you’re not baking them long enough. You want that golden-brown goodness, so try bumping up the oven temp a little or leaving them in for a few more minutes. Also, make sure you’re using the right amount of sugar and butter—both help with browning.

Fun fact: baking soda also helps aide in the browning process by raising the pH level of the dough.