And these were cooked on a cookie sheet using my Silpat (a silicone "sheet" that you use for baking). While they came off of the sheet easily, rhey still spread a little too much for my liking. I know they didn't cook evenly because the cookie dough wasn't all the same size. But that's beside the point.
These are the best of the batch. I was hoping for a more even bake, so I pulled out my pizza stone, preheated it, and baked them on there. Not as much spreading, but they still weren't what I wanted.
You should know that all the cookies above were baked from the same batch of cookie dough. I was trying different things using different methods.
And them my cookie life changed. Our Primary President brought in some cookies for sharing time and they seriously looked like the pictures on the packages of store bought cookie dough (which I can never get to turn out either). The other ladies in the presidency were also impressed and asked for her secret. It's not really a secret though. Want to know?
She uses shortening! Am I the last one to know about this? I've always used butter or margarine (the cookies above were done with butter). I think I've tried shortening in the past but didn't really get the result I was wanting so I didn't use it again. I decided to try it though.
Look at those beauties! She said she uses her grandma's recipe, which I didn't get. Instead I just used the recipe off the back of the chocolate chips bag (which is basically what I always use) and substituted shortening for the butter/margarine. She also said to let them cook ONLY until they looked almost done - not until they looked done. Then let them cool on the pan and they would keep cookin
It worked! These things were seriously so good!
No more burnt edges, underdone middles, or rocks. Just perfection!
I struggle with chocolate chip cookies. Do you mean shortening like Crisco or something? I'm going to have to try that:)
ReplyDelete@sstone
ReplyDeleteYes, a Crisco-like product is what I was talking about. It doesn't have to be the Crisco brand though. I used the Kroger variety and it worked just fine.
I always get the saddest flattest cookies - I'll have to try this trick
ReplyDeleteLike you, I prefer a soft, chewy cookie. But I hate using shortening when baking cookies (don’t like the flavor). I actually found a recipe on another blog that uses butter and results in soft, flavorful cookies. Bonus - they stay soft for a couple days and the recipe makes several medium sized cookies at once! Send me an email and I’ll send you the link!
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