Use This 10-Second Fix For Perfectly Shaped Cookies Every Time
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After baking thousands of cookies while developing and testing recipes for my latest cookbook "108 Asian Cookies," I discovered a technique that led to perfectly-shaped, thick cookies, every single bake. Technique may sound complicated, this is really more of a 10-second fix and it involves shaping the cookie dough before baking it into cookies. So for your next batch of thick cookies, like Tasting Table's best cowboy cookies recipe or my fish sauce chocolate chip cookies, instead of scooping dough balls, shape the dough into oblong tubes or cones instead.
To do this, start by placing the shaped dough on a lightly-greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, standing like towers and spaced about two inches apart. Then, bake the cookies as you normally would, but perhaps add a minute of baking time to adjust for the added thickness in the dough.
When you start with a cone or oblong-shaped dough, this will give the dough room to collapse into itself as it bakes in the oven. You end up with a cookie that's thicker in the middle, round on the bottom, and perfectly-shaped. The key is to not make the tube too tall, because as the dough softens with the heat, the entire structure can collapse or slump over. If you're wondering why not just use a ball, well it's because a round ball of dough spreads outward evenly as it bakes, which naturally leads to flatter cookies. So don't skip this technique because it's a step that can transform your cookies.
Taller cookie dough portions will result in thicker cookies, but this trick doesn't work for every cookie
If you find shaping cookie dough into oblong shapes a bit difficult, or if your tubular dough keeps collapsing in the oven, there's another way to build height. Simply stack two dough balls directly on top of each other before baking. Be sure to lightly press them together so they adhere. This will prevent the top dough ball from slipping off the bottom one while baking.
Now, does this quick 10-second fix work for every type of cookie? Unfortunately, no. If you are going for flat, crispy, or chewy cookies, especially recipes that use baking soda as the main leavening agent, you will still end up with a relatively thin cookie. Baking soda is meant to help dough spread. So this tip is not meant for your flat shortbread or lace cookies, for example.
This trick works best for thick cookies, like the famous Levain cookies in NYC. Doughs that include baking powder, a higher amount of flour, and lots of mix-ins like chocolate chips and nuts, are able to hold their height and shape longer in the oven. Once the cookies are out of the oven, be sure to check out this other dough-shaping tip to make bakery-perfect cookies every time.