For the month of DECEMBER we’re making:
One recipe every month. Bake it. Share it. Savor it.
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For December, we’re making Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies.
Take a photo of your recipe using your phone, camera, iPad, or other device.
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THREE Amazon.com $75 gift cards
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For each valid entry, Handle the Heat will donate $1 to St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital.
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Tip 1: How to Make SOFT Sugar Cookies
The extra egg yolk helps to add more moisture and richness for a soft and chewy texture. The other trick is found in the size of the dough ball…. a whole 3 tablespoons in each!
This creates larger cookies that spread out perfectly with ultra-soft centers. Whatever you do, don’t overbake your cookies. They should still look ever so slightly ‘wet’ in the center when you pull them from the oven.
Tip 2: How to Get A Crinkly Top In Cookies
Baking powder is one ingredient that gives these cookies their characteristic cracks, so make sure your baking powder is fresh. Check out my Baking Soda vs Baking Powder article for more details.
You also want to make sure that your butter is at a cool room temperature (67°F) as that can affect the appearance of these cookies as well.
PLUS, rolling the cookies in granulated sugar is important! The sugar helps to draw moisture out from the surface of the cookies while they bake, which dries out the tops before the interior sets, resulting in cracks.
Tip 3: Use the Right Baking Pan!
A light colored aluminum half sheet pan is my favorite for baking cookies. Avoid dark nonstick pans altogether, they brown too much and may burn the bottoms of your cookies.
Check out my Baking Pans 101 post for all the surprising details. Or, just click here to score my favorite baking pans for cookies (and everything else!).
