8 Tips for Baking Perfect Cookies Every Time

Are you ready to bake some cookies? These cookie baking tips are sure to help your next batch turn out perfect.

Collage of cookie images including thumbprints, chocolate chip cookies, sour cream cookies and spiced molasses cookies.

Cookies are a well-loved treat the world over, and with good reason! They’re small, they’re sweet, and they come in an endless variety of flavors and textures. Plus, they’re easy to make at home with just a few simple ingredients.

Even though cookies are relatively straightforward, there are still a few tips and tricks you can use to make sure your cookies have that “wow” factor that will have everyone reaching for seconds (and thirds!).

Follow these eight secrets, and your cookies will be perfect every time.

1. Temperature Matters

Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature, unless the recipe specifically states otherwise. Room-temperature ingredients mix together more easily and produce a more consistent cookie.

Using nicely softened butter will also give your cookies a lighter, fluffier texture. Being able to cream the butter and sugar together properly is key to getting that desired lightness.

Eggs should also be at room temperature. If you are in a hurry, you can place them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes to compensate.

2. Get Heated

Preheat your oven before you start baking. This will help your cookies bake evenly and prevent them from spreading too much.

Most cookies should be baked at 350°F, but check your recipe to be sure.

Ideally, you should use an oven thermometer to check that your oven is actually preheated to the correct temperature. Many ovens have a tendency to run hot or cold, so this extra step is always worth it.

Also, keep in mind that ovens are hotter toward the back, so it never hurts to rotate the cookie sheet about halfway through baking.

If you’re baking more than one sheet, you can also switch their positions in the oven.

While this takes a little bit more effort, it will help to ensure your cookies are evenly baked.

3. Be Exact

Be precise with your measurements. Baking is a science, so making sure your ingredients are correctly measured is crucial to the success of your cookies.

While you can get away with being a little less precise when cooking, baking is not as forgiving. Each ingredient plays an important role in the overall texture and flavor of the cookie, so making sure they’re correctly proportioned is key.

Once you master baking, you will have a good idea of what each ingredient does and how it affects the final product. This knowledge will help you make tweaks to perfect your recipe.

If you’re just getting started, however, it’s best to follow a recipe to the letter until you get a feel for how everything works.

Once you have made a recipe as written a time or two, you can start making small changes to see how they affect your cookies. Soon you will have a cookie recipe that is perfect for you!

4. Get Uniform Cookies

Scoop your dough onto a baking sheet using a cookie scoop or spoon. This will help ensure that your cookies are all the same size.

Uniformity is important not only for aesthetics but also for ensuring that your cookies bake evenly.

You can reshape the dough a bit if it’s not perfectly round, but try not to make the balls of dough too big or small.

Leave plenty of space between each scoop of dough, as cookies will spread while baking.

If you want perfectly round cookies, you can use the TikTok hack of spinning them in a glass while they are piping hot and fresh from the oven. That not only helps to shape them, but squishes the inside a bit giving them a more chewy texture.

5. Don’t Overbake

Bake your cookies until they are just barely golden brown. They will continue to cook slightly as they cool on the baking sheet, so it’s better to err on the side of undercooked rather than overcooked.

If you need to pop them back in the oven for a minute or two, you always can.

6. Cool Them Completely

Nothing beats a warm cookie, but you should allow your cookies to cool completely on a wire rack before storing. This will help prevent them from going stale.

You can transfer them to the wire rack as soon as they’ve cooled on the baking sheet for a few minutes first.

7. Store Smart

Store your cookies in an airtight container. This will keep them fresh and delicious for longer! A cookie jar or Tupperware container with a tight-fitting lid works perfectly.

To keep soft cookies soft longer, you can put a slice of sandwich bread in the container with the cookies.

You can also freeze cookies to enjoy later. Just make sure they’re stored in a freezer-safe, airtight container. Large zipper-top freezer bags work well.

8. Avoid Flat Cookies

Have you ever put in a tray of cookies to have them come out flat greasy cookies? It’s so disappointing!

Don’t despair! You can likely fix it before you bake the rest of the cookies.

It could be that the dough is too warm. Try chilling the dough for at least a half hour.

You can also put scoops of dough in the freezer for about 15 minutes to chill.

Firming up the butter a bit before baking the cookies will allow them to set before it melts and spreads.

If it isn’t the dough temperature, try adding a little bit more flour.

If you are worried about your cookies spreading too much, I have a collection of tips for preventing flat cookies.

A Few Quick Bonus Tips

Don’t put cookie dough on a hot cookie tray. If you are baking several rounds of cookies, let the sheet pans cool before you fill them with more cookie dough.
If possible, bake only one tray of cookies at a time. Use the center rack. Baking more than one tray at a time can lead to uneven baking.
Using parchment paper or silicone baking mats on your cookie trays will help the bottoms from over baking and keep the cookies from sticking.
Try ripening your cookie dough in the refrigerator for a day or two before baking it.

By following these simple tips, you’ll be sure to bake perfect cookies every time! Experiment with different flavors and textures to find your favorite combination. Happy baking!

Is it better to bake cookies with butter or shortening?

Both have their advantages, so it depends on what you are going for. Butter has a better, richer flavor. Butter based cookies have more potential to spread, but that is part of what gives you those buttery crispy edges. Shortening holds its shape more and is less likely to need chill time, however it lacks that butter flavoring. You can experiment with both to find your favorite or use a mix for the best of both worlds.

Types of Cookies

Not sure what to bake? Cookies come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and flavors. Here are a few of our favorites:

Chocolate chip cookies: a classic favorite, these simple cookies are made with chocolate chips and simple ingredients
Oatmeal raisin cookies: a healthier option, these are packed with fiber
Peanut butter: satisfying and flavorful
Sugar cookies: perfect for cutting into shapes and decorating
Snickerdoodle cookies: a cinnamon-sugar delight
Macaroons: a chewy coconut cookie
Monster cookies: a large, chewy cookie with peanut butter, M&Ms, chocolate chips, and oats
Biscotti: a crunchy Italian cookie that’s perfect for dipping in coffee