Bake at 375 degrees F until golden and crunchy on the outside, and chewy on the inside, 10 to 12 minutes. For super-chewy cookies: Substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour.
Cookie temperatures fluctuate, with some recipes as low as 300 degrees Fahrenheit, and a few as high as 425 degrees Fahrenheit, but most recipes land on 375 or 350 to evenly bake the entirety of the cookie.
Because the higher temperature causes the cookies to firm faster (aka set faster) and this prevents spreading. Cookies baked at 375 degrees F will have a thicker, chewier bottom.
How Long to Bake Cookie Dough
| Type of Cookie | Type of Baking Pan | Baking Times |
|---|---|---|
| Drop cookies | baking sheet | 8 – 10 minutes |
| Bar Cookies | 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan | 25 – 30 minutes |
| Bar Cookies | 15 x 10 x 1-inch pan | 20 – 25 minutes |
| Tart Shell or Cheesecake Crust | 9-inch tart or springform pan | 20 – 25 minutes |
The short answer is, you can expect to bake cookies at 350 degrees F for between 8 to 12 minutes.
350° is the standard temp for a cookie, and it’s a great one. Your cookies will bake evenly and the outside will be done at the same time as the inside. Baking at 325° also results in an evenly baked cookie, but the slower cooking will help yield a chewier cookie.
Is there a big difference between a 350 and 375 oven?
Some baked goods are cooked at 375F rather than 350F. The big difference between these is the exterior. At 375F, the exterior sugars will caramelize more and you’ll have a darker exterior color, while at 350F you will have a lighter exterior.
Parchment creates better cookies
Unlike aluminum foil and wax paper, parchment is treated with silicone, giving it a non-stick quality. That translates to a freshly baked batch, without having to peel slivers of silver from the bottom of your baker’s dozen.
Mistake: When cookies turn out flat, the bad guy is often butter that is too soft or even melted. This makes cookies spread. The other culprit is too little flour—don’t hold back and make sure you master measuring. Finally, cookies will also flatten if placed and baked on hot cookie sheets.
“When you bake at a lower temperature, you will get that perfect cookie with a soft center and crisp exterior,” she adds. Just make sure you increase baking time by a couple of minutes or you will end up with gooey underbaked cookies.
Chocolate chip cookies are done when they have a firm golden edge or bottom and appear slightly set on top. If the edges become dark brown, they are overbaked. If edges aren’t golden and tops are soft and shiny, bake a little longer.
Not only will this cause the cookies to spread into one another, creating bizarrely shaped cookies, but also Cowan said that “overcrowding a baking sheet will result in flatter cookies as they are sharing the heat with too many [other cookies].”
Chilling cookie dough controls spread.
Chilling cookie dough before baking solidifies the fat in the cookies. As the cookies bake, the fat in the chilled cookie dough takes longer to melt than room-temperature fat. And the longer the fat remains solid, the less cookies spread.
Using parchment paper to bake cookies can save time and energy. Unbaked cookies are placed directly onto the parchment paper, eliminating the need to grease the cookie sheet. While a batch of cookies is baking, portion out the remaining cookie dough onto sheets of parchment paper.
Bake in a 400° oven until cookies are lightly browned and no longer wet in the center (break one open to check), 6 to 8 minutes; if baking more than one pan at a time, switch pan positions halfway through baking. With a wide spatula, transfer cookies to racks to cool.
Lining a baking sheet when making cookies: Not only will the parchment help cookies bake more evenly, the non-stick quality also helps prevent them from cracking or breaking when lifting them off the sheet. Decorating home-baked goods: Parchment paper makes the perfect wrapper for baked goods.
The simple answer to this question is, meet in the middle. Cookies should (almost) always be baked on the middle rack of the oven. The middle rack offers the most even heat and air circulation which helps cookies bake consistently.
Issues with cracking usually derive from the sugar coating, not enough or expired baking powder or baking soda, or the oven temperature isn’t hot enough. Solution: Granulated sugar is more effective at drying the surface than powdered sugar.
9 Tips to Remember
- Use Real Butter and Keep It Cool. The low melting point of butter may be what makes your cookies flat.
- Use Shortening.
- Chill Dough Twice.
- Use Parchment Paper or a Silicone Liner.
- Measure Precisely.
- Use Fresh Baking Soda.
- Use Optional Add-Ins.
- Buy an Oven Thermometer.
Can I bake cake at 375?
Also, if you put the same recipe into a standard cupcake pan, your temperature will rise to 375 F and bake for 15-20 minutes. Once you are aware of the cake baking tips, temperature and time, you can bake the cake in no time at home.
Is it better to bake bread at 350 or 375?
Bread baked with more than a ½ cup of sugar, tend to be baked at 350°F (177°C), while those that require less than a ½ cup of sugar typically bake higher, at around 375°F (191°C).
What happens if you bake at a temperature that is too high?
At higher temperatures, the gases formed evaporate, contributing to the crust of bread and other baked goods. Get above 300ºF and guess what happens? Sugar caramelization and the Maillard browning reactions, which contribute that “golden-brown delicious” color and flavors to baked goods.
Which side of parchment paper goes up?
There is no right or wrong side to parchment paper, so either side can be used. For the best baking results, use a fresh sheet of parchment paper for each pan of cookies.
When should you not use parchment paper?
When Not to Use Parchment Paper. Parchment paper is not designed for high heat cooking. Avoid using it in your oven or on the grill if temperature will exceed 400 degrees, says Michelle Weaver, chef at Charleston Grill in South Carolina, as there’s a chance it could catch fire.
Cookies prepared with lots of eggs have a greater tendency to stick. Try using no-stick cooking spray or parchment paper. The amount of fat in the cookie dough affects how easily the baked cookies can be removed from the sheet. Follow recipe directions, and lightly spray cookie sheets with no-stick cooking spray.
Yolks, where all of the fat is in an egg, increase richness, tenderness and flavor. Therefore, if you put an extra egg, you will get a chewier cookie. I do it all the time. If you put less, you will get a more crumbly cookie.
Baking soda encourages spreading while baking powder puffs the cookies up. If your recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of baking soda, you would use 3 to 4 teaspoons of baking powder.
Cookie chemistry: We’re taking a 180° turn from our crunchy cookies, substituting higher-moisture brown sugar and butter for their lower-moisture counterparts: granulated sugar and vegetable shortening. That, plus a shortened baking time, yields a cookie that’s soft and chewy all the way through.
For softer, chewier cookies, you will want to add much less granulated sugar, slightly more brown sugar, and a fair bit less butter. For cakey cookies, you will often be including even less butter and sugar.
Conclusion. The baking time of your cookies will be the same whether you bake one tray or four trays — assuming your oven is large enough to handle them. Oven racks should be evenly spaced and at least several inches away from the heating element.
Most cookies are still soft when done (they harden as they cool) and will continue to bake on the cookie sheet once removed from the oven. Remove cookies from the cookie sheet as soon as they are firm enough to transfer, using a spatula, to a cooling rack or paper towels to finish cooling.
Keep in mind, though, that many cookies don’t set completely until they’re cooled, and it’s best to slightly undercook cookies if you prefer them soft and chewy, rather than crisp. Allow them to cool completely before you decide they need additional baking.
Once it’s clear that you do have limp cookies or less-than-crispy crackers, put them back into a preheated 300° F or 325° F oven, regardless of the original (presumably higher) baking temperature.
If you mix (or roll out) cookie dough too much, you’ll add excess air to the dough, causing it to rise and then fall flat in the oven. Overmixing the dough can also lead to excess gluten development, resulting in dense cookies.
While brown sugar keeps your cookies moist and soft, white sugar and corn syrup will help your cookies spread and crisp in the oven. Using more white sugar in your cookies will result in a crispier end product. To achieve a crispy cookie, skip the rest in the fridge.
Here are some ways that recipes tell you to know if your cookies are done:
- Time (i.e. they’ll bake in 10-13 minutes)
- They’ve lost their “glossy sheen”
- They’ll be “cracked” or “golden brown” around the edges.
Anywhere from 24 to 72 hours. The longer you chill the dough, the more flavor will develop. The flour will also absorb more of the moisture so the thicker and chewier the final texture will be.
Let it sit for long enough—the famous Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookie, published in the New York Times, mandates a rest of at least 24 hours and up to 72—and the starches and proteins in the flour begin to break down, leading to more browning and caramelization.
Popping your dough in the fridge allows the fats to cool. As a result, the cookies will expand more slowly, holding onto their texture. If you skip the chilling step, you’re more likely to wind up with flat, sad disks instead of lovely, chewy cookies.
Should parchment paper be greased?
Parchment paper is already non-stick, so there’s generally no need to grease your parchment paper. And if you’re baking cookies, greasing the parchment paper will likely cause your cookies to overspread and become greasy, so definitely skip the grease.
Do you grease and flour parchment paper?
You do not need to put any grease or oil on the parchment paper. Cookies will slide off the paper if you pick them up with a spatula and a cake will come out of the pan easily. Parchment paper can be used for several batches of the same recipe being baked on the same cookie/baking sheet in a few batches.
Yes, you can use parchment paper instead of shortening when baking cookies. Simply tear off a piece of parchment paper to fit on the baking surface of the baking sheet. Place cookies on the parchment paper and bake as directed.
350° is the standard temp for a cookie, and it’s a great one. Your cookies will bake evenly and the outside will be done at the same time as the inside. Baking at 325° also results in an evenly baked cookie, but the slower cooking will help yield a chewier cookie.
A lot of cookie recipes use 350°F as the preferred temperature, but if you lower it to 325°F, your cookies will cook a little slower and retain more moisture. Shorten Your Baking Time Another way to keep your cookies chewy and tender is to try baking them for less time.
Generally, cookies are baked in a moderate oven — 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) — for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the size of the cookie. For chewy cookies, allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 3 to 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
As a general rule, you can bake cookies without a cookie sheet by using any tray, dish, or bakeware that could be used in the oven. You can use a regular cake pan, glass pan, pizza tray, or disposable aluminum foil tray.
Greasing Your Aluminum Foil Sheet
Properly greasing the foil is essential to prevent the cookies from sticking to the foil as well as preventing them from burning. The best methodology is using softened butter.
Can wax paper be used instead of parchment paper?
The biggest difference between parchment paper and wax paper is that wax paper is not heat-resistant. This means you cannot use it for baking, or even use it in the oven at all because the wax could melt and even catch fire inside your oven.
If you prefer to bake two sheets, space racks so oven is divided into thirds and switch cookie sheets top to bottom and back to front halfway through baking. Preheat oven 10 to 15 minutes before baking the first sheet or pan of cookies. Check oven temperature with an oven thermometer.
What does P mean on an oven?
Pyrolytic. If you buy a pyrolytic oven, you might see an icon with a P symbol. This allows you to activate the pyrolytic self-cleaning function to deep clean the inside of your oven. This setting heats up the oven to about 400°C-500°C to turn any baked-on grease and grime into ash that you can then just wipe off.
At the beginning of nearly every cookie recipe, the first step is to cream the butter and sugar together until it’s “light and fluffy.” This is also referred to as “creaming” and is an integral step in cookie recipes.
Rotate Pans During Baking
To make sure they all bake evenly, rotate the baking sheet from front to back halfway through the baking time. If you’re baking two sheets of cookies at once, switch the position of the sheets from top to bottom and then rotate them from front to back.
Sugar sweetens the cookies and makes them an enticing golden brown. Adding too little sugar can affect the taste and texture of cookies. Adding too much can cause them to be brittle. Take your time creaming the sugar and butter together at the beginning.
Why Do Cookies Get Hard? Like all baked treats, cookies are subject to getting stale. Over time, the moisture in the cookies evaporates, leaving them stiff and crumbly. It’s the same thing that happens to breads, muffins, and other baked goods.
Carbon dioxide gas and water vapor form the bubbles which make cookies rise. Rising doesn’t just make cookies taller. It also opens up space to keep the cookie from becoming too dense. Salt slows down the decomposition of baking soda, so the bubbles don’t get too big.
Baking cookies quickly in a hot oven – at 375 degrees F as opposed to a lower temperature – will make for soft results. They’ll bake fast instead of sitting and drying out in the oven’s hot air. Ever so slightly underbaking your cookies will give you softer results than cooking them the full amount the recipe says.
Is there a big difference between 350 and 375 in oven?
Some baked goods are cooked at 375F rather than 350F. The big difference between these is the exterior. At 375F, the exterior sugars will caramelize more and you’ll have a darker exterior color, while at 350F you will have a lighter exterior.
“When you bake at a lower temperature, you will get that perfect cookie with a soft center and crisp exterior,” she adds. Just make sure you increase baking time by a couple of minutes or you will end up with gooey underbaked cookies.
Because the higher temperature causes the cookies to firm faster (aka set faster) and this prevents spreading. Cookies baked at 375 degrees F will have a thicker, chewier bottom.
Why is 350 degrees so common?
The Maillard reaction is known to happen at some point between 300° and 350°. Because ovens often fluctuate (or are incorrectly calibrated) a setting of 350° essentially ensures that the browning temperature is reached. Read: It’s a clever way to make sure that all of those glorious flavors are formed.
Is parchment paper toxic?
Unbleached parchment paper is non-toxic. However, bleached parchment paper has toxic dioxin, which can be released when heated. These toxins are potentially dangerous to your body and can cause a variety of health issues. As a result, unbleached parchment paper is preferable to bleached.
Is it better to bake bread at 350 or 375?
Bread baked with more than a ½ cup of sugar, tend to be baked at 350°F (177°C), while those that require less than a ½ cup of sugar typically bake higher, at around 375°F (191°C).