Cookie and Brownie Tips

Cutting Cream Cheese Brownies

The Cream Cheese Brownie recipe in this site is very dense and rich. Because of that, If you want to cut the brownies into rectangles, squares, or diamonds, you should use a very sharp knife that’s been dipped in water. If you are using a cookie cutter to make special shapes, you will need to push the brownie out of the cutter from the bottom side, gently pushing around the brownie at different points, until the brownie pops out. This is because the brownies are so dense and tend to stick to the cutter. It also helps if you moisten the cutter each time before you use it. 

Using Chocolate Ganache as a Coating for Small Items

Ganache is a rich, thick, wonderfully deep-flavored concoction that has many uses in the pastry kitchen. It is easily made and just as easy to use. Place the item to be coated on a serving fork over the container of warm Ganache, and use a metal spatula to “"spoon up"” Ganache and coat the item. If you intend to coat all sides of the item, you can briefly drop the item into the Ganache and lift it with the fork, and then finish coating the remaining sides. Place the coated item on waxed paper or parchment and refrigerate it until the Ganache has set. Remove the item from the parchment or waxed paper while it is cold, or the Ganache will stick to the paper.

Rolling Cookie Dough

One of the largest mistakes people make when rolling cookie dough is to handle it too harshly. There is a protein in wheat flour called gluten, and moving it around a lot after it has been moistened causes the gluten to strengthen, making your dough tough. So in order to produce tender cookies, you need to handle the dough as little as possible. One way to ensure that you don't have to re-roll the dough too often is by making sure the rolling surface is lightly but sufficiently dusted with flour so the dough doesn't stick to the surface. Another way to keep the handling of the dough to a minimum is to make sure you cut the dough so there is the least amount of waste. Cut the cookies as close as possible to each other, and there will be less leftover scraps of dough to re-roll.

Dipping Cookies in Icing

To get that shiny, smooth surface on cut-out cookies, you need to dip them upside down into icing. The icing should be thick enough that it isn’t drippy, but thin enough that it coats the top surface of the cookies. It sounds trickier than it is. The recipe for Dipping Icing for Cookies has a great consistency for this task. You may want to add a few drops of water, or another tablespoon or so of confectioners’ sugar to get the correct consistency, but the recipe itself will be very close to what you need. Pour the icing into a broad, shallow dish and cover it with damp paper towels if you are not using it right away.

To coat the cookies, drop them face down onto the surface of the icing. Grab the cookie with your thumb and middle finger, and gently sway the cookie back and forth a couple of times to be sure the entire surface is coated. Try not to get the icing on the sides of the cookie. Lift the cookie from the icing and gently shake it so the excess icing drips off. This may take a second or two. You can also use a small icing knife or table knife to help move some of the icing off. Then flip the cookie over and set it onto a cookie sheet or tray to set. The icing will settle into a smooth coating. If you are decorating the cookies with colored sprinkles or sugar, sprinkle it on before the icing starts to dry. It could take the icing an hour or more to completely set, depending on the humidity in your kitchen. Once the icing is set, you can store the cookies in an airtight container.

To coat the cookies, drop them face down onto the surface of the icing. Grab the cookie with your thumb and middle finger, and gently sway the cookie back and forth a couple of times to be sure the entire surface is coated. Try not to get the icing on the sides of the cookie. Lift the cookie from the icing and gently shake it so the excess icing drips off. This may take a second or two. You can also use a small icing knife or table knife to help move some of the icing off. Then flip the cookie over and set it onto a cookie sheet or tray to set. The icing will settle into a smooth coating. If you are decorating the cookies with colored sprinkles or sugar, sprinkle it on before the icing starts to dry. It could take the icing an hour or more to completely set, depending on the humidity in your kitchen. Once the icing is set, you can store the cookies in an airtight container.

Rotating the Pans

I often direct you to “rotate the pans halfway through the baking time.”  This step is necessary to help your baked goods bake evenly.  Many ovens produce uneven heat, so when you rotate the pans you help to compensate for that.  When rotating one pan, just turn it around 180 degrees so the part of the pan that was in the back is now in the front.  If using two pans in the oven at the same time, remove the one on the top and place it briefly on the oven door, turning it around 180 degrees as you do so.  Then move the pan that is on the bottom up to the top, turning it around 180 degrees as you do so.  Try to do this as quickly as possible so you don’t lose too much oven heat.

Decorating Dipped Cookies

You can make your sugar cookies look even more festive by sprinkling them with sparkling sugars, or jimmies or other tiny decorations. Let the dipped cookies sit for 4-5 minutes after dipping before sprinkling them with decorations.

Storing Baked Cookies

You can use the finest ingredients to make your cookies, but unless you store them properly, you've wasted your time, energy, and money. Always cool cookies completely before storing them. To store soft cookies, place them in an airtight container with wax paper or parchment between the layers of cookies. To store crisp cookies, place them in an airtight container.

Never mix soft and crisp cookies in the same container, because the moisture from the soft cookies will cause the crisp cookies to become soft.

Using Cookie Cutters

Select cookie cutters with sharp edges and rolled tops (so your fingers don’t get cut). Dip the cutting edge of the cookie cutter into flour before you cut each cookie. Make sure you have kept a very light sprinkling of flour under the rolled dough (check often to see that the dough isn’t sticking to the rolling surface) so the cut-outs can be easily moved to the baking sheets.

Press the cutter down into the dough, trying not to move it back and forth, so the cookie shape doesn’t get distorted. Remove the cutter, and slip a large offset icing spatula under the cut shape, and move it to a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving an inch between cookies. Try to keep the cookies on each baking sheet all the same size, so they bake in the same amount of time.