Super Soft Sugar Cookies (Copycat Paradise Bakery Recipe) (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to baking soft cookies? ›

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.

For soft cookies, use: Brown sugar, as it has a high moisture content and retains moisture better than white sugar. Also, when combined with eggs, brown sugar can prevent spreading (taller cookies tend to be softer and fluffier). Shortening instead of butter or in addition to butter.

Cookies become hard when the moisture in them evaporates. This can be caused by leaving them out in the air for too long, baking them for too long, or storing them improperly. The lack of moisture makes the cookies hard and dry, which makes them difficult to enjoy.

It's all about moisture. To keep it simple, cookie recipes that contain a lot of butter, brown sugar or egg yolks are going to yield soft and chewy cookies, because those ingredients add moisture and retain it for a longer amount of time.

Cornstarch gives the cookies that ultra soft consistency we all love. Plus, it helps keep the cookies beautifully thick. We use the same trick when making shortbread cookies. Egg yolk: Another way to promise a super chewy chocolate chip cookie is to use an extra egg yolk.

If you bake too many cookies (as if there is such a thing!) and are concerned about them going stale, just add a slice of white bread to the storage container to keep them from hardening.

Slice Up an Apple

When you place a few slices of apple in the container with the cookies, they start to absorb the moisture from the apple. This process is similar to the bread slice trick. However, the apple slices release moisture at a slower pace, making it more effective in keeping the cookies soft for longer.

Working the dough too much.

bad habit of mixing in the dry ingredients until they were completely incorporated. And then mixing the dough even more, for no good reason. Thankfully I was eventually steered in the right direction. Over-working the dough yields a tough cookie, which is not at all what you want.

Adding too little flour can cause cookies to be flat, greasy, and crispy. Most recipes assume you'll use all-purpose, but if you want a lighter, crumblier cookie texture, choose one with a lower protein content such as cake-and-pastry flour. Baking soda helps cookies spread outward and upward while cooking.

The holes trick

There's also a new technique going around when preventing craters in a second layer of icing: poke holes in the base flood (under the area you'll cover with a second layer of icing). You can even do this when the first layer flood has completely dried!

Is it better to refrigerate sugar cookie dough? ›

Refrigerating the dough allows the flour to fully hydrate and helps to make the cookie dough firmer. Firm dough prevents the cookies from spreading too much, which is why chilling the dough is a crucial step for cut-out and rolled cookies.

Once I decorate the cookies (either the day they are baked or a couple days later), the cookies need to be left out over night to fully dry before packaging. They will not get stale from being left out one day.

Add baking powder or baking soda

A lot of cookie recipes don't include baking powder but it's what makes cookies soft and fluffy. However, baking powder also makes the cookies cakier so if you prefer chewy cookies, use baking soda instead of baking powder.