Q&A for How to Bake Cookies

I think it’s probably a scale. For me, once I started scaling everything out, that’s when I feel like my baking became a lot more precise.

This depends on the type of cookie you're baking. If your mixture is a bit on the thin side, it will spread. This will make the cookie crisp on the edges and soft at the center. On the other hand, if you have a chunky mixture — for example, with choco chips — the entire cookie will bake at roughly the same rate. With some recipes, such as snickerdoodles, the center will be soft at first and then harden as it cools down.

It depends on the types of cookies, and what the recipe says.

From 8-20 minutes, depending on the recipe.

Put the pan on the middle rack.

The ingredients depend on which recipe you are using. Cookies recipes generally have flour, sugar, butter, and some kind of flavoring. Use the ingredients in the recipe that you choose.

It's your choice. Hand mixing takes more time and effort, but the end product is the same. Investing in an electric mixer only makes sense if you plan to bake often.

All recipes have different baking times, so follow the directions you have on your own recipe. If there is no baking time listed, go online or look in cookbooks for similar recipes. For even baking (browning), rotate the cookie sheet halfway through the baking cycle.

It could be that you've made a recipe intended to produce crunchier cookies. It could also be because you're leaving the cookies out to cool for too long, allowing them to go stale. Let the cookies cool only until they can be picked up without breaking before putting them into a sealed container.

Yes; reference wikiHow to Make No Bake Cookies .

It doesn't matter which rack you put the pan on, but the bottom rack will heat the cookies faster while the top rack heats a bit slower. Be careful not to burn the bottom of your cookies if you use the bottom rack.

If you want them to be higher and lighter, yes. Use more or less, depending on how you want the consistency.

Yes. If you are making chocolate chip cookies, add the chocolate chips after you've added all other ingredients to your dough, then mix well, spoon out the dough onto a baking sheet, and bake.

The bacon needs to be cooked before it goes into the batter or the bacon will be flabby and the cookies will become weird and runny from the bacon fat.

The best way to preserve cookies is to keep them in airtight containers. Keep them around room temperature or a bit cooler. Shelf life will probably be a couple of days and you can tell because they either become stale and harder or softer and chewier.

Chocolate chip cookies are some of the easiest cookies to make.

Yes. As long as all the cookies are the same size, using a tablespoon should work fine.

Yes, you can. However, you may need to add less salt or leave it out (especially if the recipe calls for unsalted/sweet butter).

Yes, shortbread cookies, sugar cookies, and "blonde" chocolate chip cookies (chocolate chip cookie dough without the chips) are all vanilla cookies.