Tips for Baking Cookies

Cutout Cookies

• Work with half of the dough. Keep the other half of the dough refrigerated until you're ready to roll it out.
• Use as little flour as possible when rolling out cookie dough because extra flour toughens cookies. Lightly sprinkle the rolling surface with all-purpose flour. A pastry stocking and pastry cloth help prevent the dough from sticking.
• Dip the cutter in flour between cuts to keep the dough from sticking to it.
• Leave just a sliver of space between cutouts to get the greatest number of cookies from the dough.
• After you've cut out the cookies, combine any scraps, and reroll on a surface lightly dusted with a mixture of all-purpose flour and powdered sugar. Handle and roll the dough as little as possible to keep the cookies tender.
• Cutout cookies are done when the bottoms are very lightly browned and edges are firm.
• Cool cookies completely before storing them so they don't lose their shape.

Drop Cookies

• If your recipe calls for greased cookie sheets, use only a very light coating of shortening, or your cookie may spread too much during baking. If a recipe specifies ungreased cookie sheets, you can use regular or nonstick sheets.
  To get the right number of cookies from each batch, drop the dough using your flatware spoons, not measuring spoons. Make sure the mounds are rounded and about the same size so they'll bake and brown evenly.
• Bake on just one oven rack at a time for even browning.
• Let cookie sheets cool between batches so the dough doesn't spread too much.
• Drop cookies are done when the dough looks set and the edges and bottoms are lightly browned.

Slice-and-Bake Cookies

• If a recipe makes more than one roll of dough, take only one roll at a time from the refrigerator to slice. Keep the other roll chilled until you're ready to slice it.
• To make cookies round, keep the dough in a perfect cylinder while it's chilling by sliding the roll into a tall drinking glass.
• While slicing, rotate the roll frequently to avoid flattening one side.

Bar Cookies

• Pan size counts; be sure to use the right one. If you don't have a 15 x 10 x 1-inch pan, use two 9 x 9 x 2-inch baking pans. If you don't have a 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan, use two 8 x 8 x 2-inch baking pans. Use the same oven temperature, but check the bars for doneness 5 minute before reaching the minimum baking time given in the recipe.
• Think outside the square. To cut triangles, cut bars into 2- or 2-1/2-inch squares, then cut each square in half diagonally. Use this two-step method for cutting diamonds: Cut parallel lines 1 or 1-1/2 inches apart down the length of the pan. Then cut diagonal lines 1 or 1-1/2 inches apart across the pan.