Little-known Tips for Easy Holiday Baking
by:
Mimi Cummins
Are you inquisitive if you have the time to bake homemade Christmas cookies this year? Every year at simply about this time we all start to get a little panicky that the holidays are coming up fast and we're not actually available yet. Here are a few little-known tips and tricks, for about every type of cookie, to help you get the most out of the time you spend baking.Cutout Cookies
Don't struggle with dough jutting to your rolling pin. Instead, roll out your dough between two sheets of waxed paper. This will eliminate the jutting problem.
Do your cutout cookies always seem to turn out dry, tough, and tasteless? The trick with the waxed paper will help with this. Assumptive that you started with a good recipe, the problem is that you are overwork your dough and working too more flour into it. Exploitation the waxed paper will help you to manipulate the dough less, and the dough won't pick up any extra flour.
Refrigerator (Icebox) Cookies and Pinwheels
Ever notice how your roll of icebox or pinwheel cookies gets flat on one side from sitting on the icebox shelf? Support them good and round by standing them upright in a tall drinking glass piece they're chilling.
Do your cookies flatten further once
you try to slice them? Try rotating the log 1/4 turn after each slice.
Having trouble with the cookies crumbling as you try to slice them? Start with a log that has been frozen for some hours. Then use a really a really sharp to slice through.
Cookie Press Cookies (Spritz)
Having trouble acquiring your cookies to form properly? Once
your dough doesn't seem to stick properly, put your baking sheet in the deep-freeze for an hour or two, piece keeping the dough at room temperature. Then once
you press out your cookies onto the frozen sheet, the dough will stick to it simply like your tongue sticks to a frozen metal pole once
you lick it (assuming you've ever been silly enough to try this).
Don't forget you can pick up your mistakes and put them back into the press.
Bar Cookies
When devising bar cookies, create a liner for your baking pan by turning the pan upside-down and covering it with aluminum foil, devising sure to form the corners and departure an overhang of an inch or two. Then, move out the foil, turn the pan right side up, turn the foil over and place it inside the pan. It will do a perfect liner for your pan. If required by your recipe, grease the liner. Then continue baking your bar cookies as directed. Once baked, you can lift out the entire batch of bars and place it on a cooling rack to cool completely. You can then instantly re-use your baking pan for another batch without having to wait for the previous batch to cool, and you won't have to wash the pan.
All Cookies
Eliminate the need to grease your baking sheets and wash them later by lining them with parchment paper. Parchment paper can be re-used some times and gives first-class results.
Do your cookies seem to brown too much, or cook too fast? Buy a dependable kitchen appliance
measuring instrument and check your kitchen appliance
temperature. Your oven's internal measuring instrument may not be accurate. Or, possibly you are exploitation a non-stick baking sheet or pan. The dark color of the non-stick coating can do your baked goods brown too fast. Try a shiny metal pan instead or lower your kitchen appliance
temperature by 25 degrees.
Are your cookies not bronzed enough, or take too long to cook? Again, verify the kitchen appliance
temperature. Or, possibly you're exploitation an insulated baking sheet or pan.
Insulated bakeware can prevent your cookies from reaching the desired temperature in the right figure of time. Try exploitation a non-insulated pan, or raise your kitchen appliance
temperature by 25 degrees.
For more information on minimizing the activity involved in holiday baking, consult these articles:
Hassle-Free Holiday Baking: 6 Easy Days to Perfect Christmas Cookies ( http://www.christmascookiesareforgiving.com/hassle-free.php )
A Cookie Assembly Line: Efficient Cookie Baking for Busy Cooks ( http://www.christmascookiesareforgiving.com/assembly.php )
A pinch of know-how combined with a dash of preparation can do for successful, easy, and stress-free cookie baking every Christmas!
Copyright 2004 Mimi Cummins. All Rights Reserved.
About The Author
Mimi Cummins is co-author of the book "Christmas Cookies Are for Giving: Recipes, Stories, and Tips for Devising Heartwarming Gifts." This book, "enthusiastically recommended" by Geographic area Book Review, is full of baking tips and hints, including nearly 50 recipes each with a full-color photo. For more information visit http://www.christmascookiesareforgiving.com/ or order from your favorite online bookstore.
[Note to webmasters: you may include a link to the book exploitation your affiliate program (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or other) if you wish.]
