How can I make my cookies softer?!
Answers: I have good recipes but am wondering if anyone has any tips for adjustments to make chocolate cookies (in particular) softer. What makes them crunchy or soft, anyway?
Whether cookies come out soft and chewy and/or stay soft has a lot to do with the ingredients you use. For example, brown sugar (and sweeteners such as honey, molasses, etc.) have more moisture than regular white sugar, so cookies baked with these will yield softer cookies. The type of fat you use will affect this, too. Butter yields a soft cookie, but butter conducts heat more quickly than other fats (shortening, margarine). This can cause the cookies to spread a lot when baking, yielding a thin, flat cookie that is too crisp. Another factor is the amount of fat in comparison to the other ingredients: the more fat, the flatter and crispier the cookies will turn out.
What I often do for cookie recipes that call for only butter is replace half of the amount of butter with shortening, or butter flavored shortening. This gives you the flavor and softness from the butter, but the shortening prevents the cookies from spreading out too much. Also, I find that using parchment paper to line the cookie sheets helps with the spreading issue, too (and makes for easy clean up!) Make sure you let the cookie sheets cool between batches; putting the dough on hot/warm cookie sheets will affect the baking time/spreading. Run the cookie sheets under cold water between batches to quickly cool them down.
When baking, make sure you bake the cookies for the shortest amount of time recommended and check for doneness. Cookies should be golden on the edges and centers should still be soft and just cooked through; cookies will continue to bake slightly as they cool.
Be sure not to over-mix the cookie dough, either. Doing so will incorporate too much air into the dough, resulting in flat, spread out cookies. Also check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer to make sure it is running at the correct temperature.
I found a really great page at the Allrecipes.com website that discusses how to make perfect cookies. Included on the page are links to some recipes for soft, chewy cookies. See the link in Sources.
Happy Baking!
~ Maria
How long you bake them
Don't bake them quite as long if you want them soft. Also, the more brown sugar used, the softer they'll be.
more or less butter.
add more butter for softer cookies, and a little less for crunchier ones.
the time they are in the oven
if u add too much flour to a recipe it will make them crisper....if u add more butter or shortening or like a sticking agent like that it will make it softer....also cooking..u dont wanna over cook them ,and u want to make sure u have to perfect amount of dough, if u are making little cookies they will be more crisp, drop more of the dough down to make a bigger cookie...wont turn out so crisp.
Don't bake them as long and for every cup of flour used take out 1 tablespoon of it (flour).
but the cookies in a plastic zip lock bag after you bake them and but a piece of bread in the bag too. it makes your cookies alot softer
well if you want them to be soft then you shouldnt leave them in the oven for a long time
Are you using a pre-made box, tube or whatnot? I find that different brands of these react differently. For example when I'm making chocolate chip cookies and I use Pillsbury or Tollhouse I always have great results, whereas if I use the off brand Kroger or Meijer stuff I find that they're often too hard and just don't taste as great.
If you are making them from scratch though adding a bit more butter will always help.
Actually when you take them off the cookie sheet, they should be a little soft. Let the sit a bit. Then sotre them in a sealed container or freeer bag with a slice of an apple or two, They will always be soft. Not sure why but it Always works! And no, there is no apple taste to them after.
Here is a secret my grandma uses. First you lower the oven fifty degrees lower then the recipe says. When you make the cookie's themselves you use half of the butter and half shortening instead of all butter or shortening. Finally you take the cookies out just as they get a little color in them(they will still be slightly white). Let them sit on the cookie tray for five minutes after take them out to allow them to meld. Take them off very carefully. If they seem soft now they will harden up as soon as they cool. These are soooooo good:)
For all baked goods, putting them into a plastic freezer bag for a few minutes after cooking will keep them moist.
You can add a little applesauce to the batter, it won't add apple flavor to the cookies but will add moisture.
If you've already baked them, and they are crunchy, try this. Put two on a microwavable plate and cook at 50% power for 20-30 seconds [depends on microwave]. It will soften them right up. I do this with chips ahoy chocolate chip cookies. Gives them an out of the oven feel, even if it can't compare to the real thing-I know I could eat the whole tray of hot, out of the oven chocolate chip cookies that's why I only make them when everyone is home.
Don't put the cookies in the oven as long as the recipe calls for.