ESSENTIAL
Cookie Tools
- PARCHMENT PAPER. Using parchment paper as your baking sheet
liner off ers two cookie-baking benefi ts: you won’t burn the bottom of your
cookies, and you’re cutting your cleanup time in half. Note: stay away from
wax paper. While excellent for candy-making and storing in the freezer
because it’s moisture-resistant, wax paper is not heat-resistant and could
melt into your cookies or even catch fi re in the oven. - OVEN THERMOMETER.
If you haven’t recently calibrated
your oven or have noticed that
bake times are signifi cantly off
for your home-baked recipes,
it might be time to invest in an
oven thermometer and hang it
on the middle rack. No matter
what your oven tells you, the
oven thermometer will give you
a true reading of how hot the
oven is. This way, you’ll always
know whether your oven has been
properly preheated or needs to
have the temperature dropped or
lowered for precision. - COOLING RACKS.
Wire cooling racks allow air
to circulate on all sides of
the cookies once they’re out
of the oven so they achieve
a tender texture all around.
When cookies are cooled on
a plate, condensation gets
trapped under the bottoms,
making them soggy. Stick
with cooling racks with a
tight grid pattern for proper
support; ones with open slats
will cause soft cookies to dip
in the middle while cooling. •