Growing up in a large family (9 kids), the quickest dessert and snack my Mom would make was cookies! We all loved them. Our cookie jar was always full of her homemade creations. At an early age, I would spend time in the kitchen helping my her bake. The bonus…I got to eat the dough! At Christmas time, my Grandma, would bake up a storm of cookies, layer them in a large coffee can and ship them across the country to us. It didn’t matter to me that the cookies were stuck together and the flavors had melded together… they were still cookies! I guess I was destined to have a cookie passion!

I began baking at a very young age with my Mom then ventured off by myself in the kitchen. Overtime, I created my very own version of an old Betty Crocker recipe for chocolate chip cookies and opened my own Mail Order Cookie Company. Friends would always ask me how I got my cookies to turn out so fluffy, crisp around the edges yet soft in the middle. I decided to post a couple of my tricks for baking the ultimate cookies. Try using these tips with your favorite recipe. I would love to hear how it turned out for you!

Flour:

Flour should be stirred to loosen and fluff it, then spooned gently into a dry-measure cup (the kind you fill to the rim), and the top scraped level. If you tap the cup or scoop flour from the bag, the flour gets packed down and you can easily add 2 to 4 extra tablespoons flour per cup. In my opinion, recipes don’t use enough flour. I tend to add ½ cup more flour to just about every recipe. Your dough should be ever so slightly sticky, but not too dry that you can’t scoop it.

Butter or Margarine:

Butter tends to flatten out your cookies due to the high fat content. Fat melts faster than water can evaporate, so your cookies will spread quickly, especially if you didn’t use enough flour. I found that using a high fat margarine (10g or more) makes a softer cookie. I found that margarine has a better water to fat ratio, in my opinion, and creates a better result.

Oven Temperature:

Your oven temperature, like most households, is probably off but a couple of degrees. I’ve found this with every oven I’ve used. My fix? Based off of your recipe, lower the temperature on the oven by 15-25 degrees. Your cookies will turn out much better.