Favorite Cookie Baking Tools and Equipment

Baking homemade cookies is a lot more enjoyable when you have the right tools and equipment. Here's a list of items that will help insure cookie baking success.

Baking Pans and Cookie Sheets: Come in a wide variety of styles and materials. Dark metal pans absorb heat and will cause cookies and brownies to brown more quickly. Shiny metal pans reflect heat making them perfect for more delicate baked treats. Air-cushioned sheets provide extra protection from burning but make it difficult to obtain golden brown cookies. Glass pans carry heat more effectively so your oven temperature needs to be adjusted down 25 degrees when using them. I prefer dull, light colored heavy duty aluminum baking pans. Basic pan sizes you'll want in your collection include:

9 X 13-inch
8-inch square
9-inch square
9-inch round
Cookie sheets with or without sides. Although many books suggest rimless pans for baking cookies, I have had great success using rimmed half sheet pans.

Bowls: Small, medium, and large mixing bowls in glass or stainless steel.

Wooden Spoons: Great for stirring brownies batter

Measuring Spoons: One or two sets of graduated spoons designed specifically for measuring

Measuring Cups: A 2-cup glass or plastic one for liquids that has a spout and a set of dry graduated measuring cups

Spatulas: One thin metal spatula for removing cookies from the pan and a couple of plastic spatulas for scraping cookie dough and brownie batter from bowls into baking pans

Whisks: One or two medium to large whisks for mixing both dry and wet ingredients

Ice Cream Scoops: Small ice cream scoops make easy, speedy work of dropping cookie dough onto pans. They're one of my favorite inexpensive cookie making tools

Microplane: A wonderful tool for zesting and grating zest from citrus fruit and chocolate

Silicone baking pan liners: Make clean-up a breeze and are available in a wide variety of sizes. With a silicone liner you are able to forgo greasing cookie sheets too. Just be sure to not cut them.

Parchment Paper: An indispensable aid for quick and easy baking. Available in both rolls and sheets, I bake all my cookies on parchment lined sheets for the easiest clean-up

Wire Racks: For cooing your cookies and brownies

Electric Mixer: I love my KitchenAid mixers, both hand-held and standing versions, for making brownies and cookies. If you only bake occasionally or have limited space, start with one or the other. If you bake a lot, you will eventually want both.

Food Processor: I am a fan of Cuisinart food processors. They can really speed up the process for many kitchen tasks like chopping, grating, shredding, and pureeing. Get one that has at least a 6-cup capacity.

Martha McKinnon is an avid home cook and cooking instructor who loves sharing everything she has learned through her years in the kitchen with all who are interested.

Her website, http://www.best-ever-cookie-collection.com is dedicated to publishing the best cookie recipes.

And her blog, http://www.simple-nourished-living.com explores easy recipes, tips, and hints.

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Buying Tips For Cookie Sheets

It does not matter what occasion you are baking cookies for, as it is always important that the cookies always come out right. Nobody would like to eat burnt cookies, which is why it is essential to purchase a good cookie sheet for baking. However, many people are not aware of the fact that there are many types and kinds to choose from when you are shopping for these. The right cookie sheet will make sure that your baking is easier and will provide you with satisfactory results.

The most popular sheets are the ones made out of aluminum. They are light weight and good conductors of heat. They bake cookies until they are golden brown and do not allow them to get burnt at the bottom. They are rust resistant and can be kept in the freezer or refrigerator. You can also choose to purchase cookie sheets made from carbon which are also good conductors of heat. They allow your cookies to bake evenly, but they take longer to bake when compared to other sheets. Then there are stainless steel cookie sheets which are sturdy but there are many professionals out there who avoid using this type.

Cookie Bake

Stainless steel has proven to be a poor conductor of heat, which can result in uneven baking. If you are looking to purchase cookie sheets at a very low price and do not bake that often, you should opt for disposable baking pans. When you are shopping for cookie sheets, also keep in mind the size that you will need. You can either purchase sets (which allow you to choose from the many different sizes) or you can purchase larger sized sheets. If you own a small oven, you can always measure the width and length of the racks before going out for sheet shopping.

Before you purchase cookie sheets measure your oven so this way you will know exactly which size to purchase. Then there is also the coating on different baking sheets. Some sheets have light colored or dark colored coating. If you love baking and do it often then you should always have more than one sheet to bake with. You will be able to bake a number of batches more proficiently this way. The price of a sheet will depend upon what quality and size it is. If you are smart, you will always have one of these sheets around.

Buying Tips For Cookie Sheets

Visit cookie sheet or dualit toaster oven for more information.

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Method Madness - Baking Methods Explained

Ever notice the different procedures when baking cookies, muffins, and biscuits? Even cakes have their own particular method. Why do I cream the butter with the sugar when making cookie dough? Why shouldn't I completely mix the muffin batter until it's smooth and creamy? Why must this be so difficult!? WHY?

Ok, so I'm overreacting a bit. Just a little.

There are reasons for the madness and I'm here to explain a few things. I'll even share a few tips on how to make your cookies and cakes taste even better.

First off, baking is a process and takes patience. This is why many chefs don't like to bake. They don't have the patience to measure out the ingredients and to mix things properly. It actually matters, especially when it comes to cookies, muffins, quick breads, and cakes. I'm one of those rare chefs that loves to bake, which is probably a reason there are so many baking recipes stacked a mile high in my kitchen.

Cookie Method:
Cream the butter and sugars together. Sift the dry ingredients together. Add eggs one at at time. This process evenly distributes the ingredients. With cookies, you don't worry too much about rising or having an "airy" cookie.

Muffin Method:
Sift together the dry ingredients (including sugar). Mix together the wet ingredients. Mixing the two together until just mixed (slightly lumpy batter). Over mixing causes tunneling. What's tunneling? Glad you asked. If you over mix the batter, holes and spaces are created in the muffin. That's tunneling. A good muffin will have a slightly raised dome, nice and round, not pointed. Use this method for making pancakes and they will turn out light and fluffy.

Cake method:
This depends on the cake you are making. Angel food is different than baking a white cake. Suffice it to say, what you are achieving in baking a cake is getting air incorporated in the batter giving it a delicate texture. A basic yellow cake is mixed according to the "2 stage" method. This means the liquids are added in 2 different stages. First you cream the fat and sugar together; then add the eggs. Next you add the dry ingredients (sifted together) alternately with the milk. Depending on the cake, sometimes the eggs are added in the 2nd stage with the milk. When making an Angel food cake, egg whites are folded in at the end.

Biscuit method:
Cold butter/fat and liquid. Cut in the fat into the dry ingredients. Moisten the mixture with liquid until wet enough to form a dough. Don't over mix in order for the butter to stay as small lumps throughout the dough causing it to steam and forcing the dough to rise.

Tips:

When baking cookies, muffins, and cakes, make sure the butter and eggs are at room temperature. Recipes usually specify the butter to be softened (room temp) but rarely the eggs. Making sure the eggs are at room temperature will produce a better result. Cold eggs hitting warm butter causes the butter to congeal no matter how fast you mix it. It produces a greasy product -- not exactly what you want.
Separate eggs when they are cold. Whip egg whites when they are at room temperature.
Use unsalted butter only. You never know how much salt goes into the salted butter.
Preheat the oven. Be patient. Allow it come up to temperature. And -- don't open the door all the time to check on your yummy baked goods, either. You're letting heat out! Patience.
Remove muffins and cookies from the pans within the first 5 minutes after removing from oven. This prevents sogginess. Using racks to place the cookies or muffins (or cakes) will allow for even cooling.
To sift or not to sift: I admit to not always sifting, but rather whisking the dry ingredients together. This is fine when it's cookies or muffins and you aren't in some competition. However, when it comes to delicate cakes, sift the flour. It will aerate the flour and help it to mix into the batter better.
Does size matter? Yes. I'm talking about the eggs, of course. Get your head out of the gutter. Geez. Large eggs work the best in most recipes. Use the extra large, jumbo, or small for making omelets or scrambled eggs.

Measuring:

Scoop and sweep method for flour. Scoop the flour into the measuring cup and sweep the top the back of a knife.
Packed method for brown sugar.
The most accurate way to measure dry ingredients is to weigh them. Professional bakers use scales. A cup of flour and a cup of sugar do not weigh 8 ounces nor do they weigh the same amount. The only two ingredients that weight the same as their volume are butter and water. 1 cup of butter weighs 8 ounces. Just so you know. Most recipes are written for the home cook.
Always measure wet ingredients in a wet measuring cup. Dry ingredients get measured in standard measuring cups. Easier and more accurate.

With these tips, your cakes, cookies, and muffins will turn out great. Care to share some with rest of us?

Marcy Gaston is a writer living in Montana. She has been cooking and baking her whole life both professionally and for her family. She writes a cooking blog, Cooking Rut -http://cookingrut.blogspot.com

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