Panning, Baking and Cooling

PREPARING THE PANS

1. Use clean, unwrapped pans.

2. Lining the sheets with parchment or silicone paper is fast, and it eliminates the necessity of greasing the pans.

3. A heavily greased pan increases the spread of the cookie. A greased and floured pan decreases spread.

4. Some high-fat cookies can be baked on ungreased pans.

BAKING

1. Most cookies are baked at a relatively high temperature for a short time.

2. Too low a temperature increases spreading and may produce hard, dry, pale cookies.

3. Too high a temperature decreases spreading and may burn the edges or bottoms.

4. Even one minute of overbaking can burn cookies, so watch them closely. The heat of the pan continues to bake the cookies even after they are removed from the oven.

5. Doneness is indicated by color. The edges and bottoms should just be turning a light golden color.

6. With some rich doughs, burnt bottoms may be a problem. In this case, double-pane the cookies by placing the sheet pan on a second pan of the same size.

COOLING

1. Remove the cookies from the pans while they are still warm, or they may stick.

2. If the cookies are very soft, do not remove them from the pans until they are cool enough and firm enough to handle. Cookies may be soft when hot but become crisp when cool.

3. Do not cool cookies too rapidly or in cold drafts, or they may crack.

4. Cool completely before storing.