Tips for the Perfect Cookie Everytime

Happy Saturday lovelies & thanks for popping by to check out this cookie post <3

I love cookies. Do you love cookies? Like realllly love cookies? Because I reallllly love cookies – like I am basically the cookie monster in human form. So if you are like me, then you have come to the right place my friend. Cookie lovers unite!

I mean honestly, who could look at this picture and not be immediately inflicted with a case of the drools? If there is anybody out there who is looking at this picture, and hasn’t started thinking about making a batch of cookies and then proceeding to eat the entire tray… you have the kind of willpower that I will never know.

Seriously, trying to get me to resist a fresh, homemade cookie that has been baked to perfection with a crisp exterior, chewy center, rich flavour and ooey gooey chocolate….. that’s like trying to get me to resist breathing – and let’s face it, that’s just not going to happen.

But baking the perfect batch of cookies is sometimes a bit of a challenge. Have you ever picked up one of your cookies and asked yourself why they just aren’t turning out as chewy as you would like? Or why they don’t taste as delicious as the cookies at your favourite bakery?

I myself have definitely been there, so over the years of my many cookie trials and tribulations, I have come up with a list of tips and tricks to help ensure that I get that perfect cookie I am craving every time for you lovelies to check out below and try out in your own kitchens. So here we go…

Tip 1: Don’t be afraid to add a little flavour
Now when I say flavour I don’t just mean your standard vanilla and chocolate chips. I’m talking about some ingredients that you might not expect to find in your standard chocolate chip cookie recipe. Adding ingredients like pure almond or hazelnut extract, espresso powder, cinnamon, or nutmeg can have a huge impact on the flavour of your cookie – and just a little bit will go a long way. By adding just a hint (even just 1/2 tsp) of any of these flavours to your favourite cookie recipe will add a whole new dimension to the flavour.

Tip 2: Bake with convection if you can
My convection oven has seriously become my new best friend ever since we got it last year. When baking cookies, I always bake with my oven in convection mode. Why? Well, when you bake cookies with convection, the air circulates in your oven and you will find that your cookies get a much nicer even bake to them. I love this not only because this is what will give your cookies that amazing crisp exterior while still maintaining a chewy, gooey interior but also because it really helps to eliminate those dreaded burnt cookie bottoms.

Tip 3: Add a little cornstarch
This is a tip that I picked up from the wonderful Anna Olson – aka one of my baking idols. Cornstarch is a secret little cookie ingredient that will help you to achieve that perfect chewy interior and crisp exterior to your cookies.

Tip 4: A word on chocolate

Now as much as we all love those cute little chocolate chips, and the many flavours they now come in, I have to admit that I actually rarely use actual chocolate chips when baking my cookies. My favourite chocolate to add to my cookies is actually Foleys melting chips. You can pick these up in the bulk section of your local grocery store, and these are the flat little chocolate disks (which are actually a much better price than your standard chocolate chip)

So why do I use these? Well firstly because they come in dark, milk and white chocolate, which I much prefer to use over semi-sweet chocolate. Secondly, they are a higher quality of chocolate so the flavour is nothing in comparison to your run of the mill chocolate chip. Lastly, when you mix them into your batter, their large flat disks will break apart into perfectly sized chunks, that not only taste amazing, but also these meaty chunks will look just downright irresistible when you pull them out of the oven

Tip 5: My love for cookie scoops
In my opinion, this is the most important tip to achieving your perfect cookie. Honestly, the beauty of having an array of difference sizes ice cream scoops or cookie dough scoop will seriously change your life. Do you ever ask yourself – “how the heck do people get their cookies to all be the same size and so perfectly round?” Back in the days of using two teaspoons to drop cookie dough out onto sheets, this was the question I asked myself constantly. The answer is simple – they use ice cream scoops.

Not only will this give you perfectly round cookies that are the same size, but it will probably cut your cookie dough scooping time in half – and who doesn’t want that?

Tip 6: Finish them off
Before I set my cookies in the oven, I am always sure to give them a little sprinkling of something extra. Depending on the cookie, I love to finish them off with either a little dusting of turbinado sugar or a sprinkling of coarse sea salt. or a mixture of cinnamon sugar… basically anything that will give your cookies not only an extra hint of flavour, but will also give them a little sparkle when they come out of the oven.

Tip 7: Give them a spin
Have you ever noticed that your oven has spots that are a little hotter than others? You know – areas where things brown or cook just a little faster? I know mind does. The back left hand corner of my oven is definitely the hot spot in my oven. So whenever I am baking if I notice the tops of my cookies on one end of the pan are getting a little bit more brown than the other end of the pan, I make sure that about 3/4 of the way through their baking time I give the tray a quick spin. This is a super simple tip to help ensure that your cookies all get an even bake, so you don’t have fully cooked cookies on one end of the tray and under-baked cookies at the other end.

Okie dokie peeps! So now that you have all the tips to making the perfect cookie, you pretty much have to go and test them out right? {Any excuse to bake cookies} 😀

Here are a few links to some of my favourite recipes to go along with it for you to put your skills to work!  As always, I hope you enjoy lovelies and would love to hear how they turn out 🙂

 

Happy cookie baking <3

KP xoxo

 

 

 

Pumpkin & Toffee Chocolate Chunk Cookies

 

 

 

 

Double Chocolate Coffee Addict Cookies

 

 Pumpkin & Toffee Chocolate Chunk Coookies

 Brown Sugar & Spice Cookies