Things bakers know: The secret to cut-out cookies that hold their shape (2024)
There’s nothing I love more than learning some simple trick that makes a task easier.
I have always made my dough for butter cookies, gingerbread, and other cut-out cookies well in advance of holiday baking, tightly wrapping the disks of dough in plastic wrap and stashing them in the freezer until I was ready to bake and decorate.
And while do-ahead is a great practice for busy bakers, I never remembered to pull those rock-hard dough blocks from the freezer far enough in advance that they’d have time to thaw properly. Many were the years that I found myself pounding on a semi-frozen brick of gingerbread dough with a rolling pin, my impatient children looking on.
And then, of course, there’s the other problem: If you’re trying to make nice, clean cut-out cookies (using your favorite holiday cookie cutters, of course), the temperature of the dough matters. By the time it’s soft enough to roll easily, it’s often so sticky that when you attempt to lift a gingerbread person off the work surfaceit loses a limb.
So here’s the trick I recently learned: Right after you’ve mixed up your batch of butter cookie or gingerbread dough (or these chocolate cut-outs, eggnog cookies, or spice cookies), immediately plunk it onto a sheet of parchment paper. (If you have a large quantity of dough, divide it between a few sheets of parchment.) Top with a second sheet of parchment, then roll the dough to the specified thickness. (This special rolling pin can help get it even.) Pull off the top sheet of parchment, then slide the sheet of dough onto a baking sheet, then pop it in the freezer. (You can stack as many sheets of dough onto one baking sheet as you’d like.)
Photography by Mark Weinberg; Food styling by Liz Neily
If you plan to store it for only a few hours or days, there’s no need to overwrap the baking sheet; for longer storage, wrap the entire baking sheet tightly with plastic wrap before freezing. The dough can hang out in the freezer for weeks; when you’re ready to bake your cookies, remove as many sheets of dough from the freezer as you’d like, let the dough stand at room temperature for five minutes, then use your favorite cutters to stamp out cookies; they’ll be easy to cut, will hold their shape, and won’t stick. Plus, your well-chilled cookies are less likely to spread in the oven while they bake. It’s a (minor) holiday miracle.
Pull off the top sheet of parchment, then slide the sheet of dough onto a baking sheet, then pop it in the freezer. (You can stack as many sheets of dough onto one baking sheet as you'd like.) Sandwich your dough between two sheets of parchment, roll, then freeze; it makes cut-out cookies a breeze!
To help cookies keep their shape, freeze them! I freeze each batch of cut-out cookies for 5 to 10 minutes before baking. They rise just slightly higher and keep their shape better. This really helps when using an intricate cookie cutter, but I do this even when baking circles.
I keep a little salad plate of flour right by my rolling area and dip my cookie cutter in it between cuts. This keeps the cutter from sticking to the dough and stretching or tearing the shape.
If your butter is under mixed, it won't have the air pockets to hold it's shape. If it's over-mixed, the air pockets decrease in size and are unable to hold their shape in the oven—causing your cookies to spread. It's best to cream butter and sugar on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes.
Pat cookie dough into a 1”-thick square. Pat your dough onto a piece of greased parchment or waxed paper; I'm using our Oatmeal Cookies recipe here. ...
A cookie cutter in North American English, also known as a biscuit cutter outside North America, is a tool to cut out cookie/biscuit dough in a particular shape.
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.
Cream of tartar stabilizes the tiny bubbles in the egg whites, by precluding the egg proteins from sticking together. It thus speeds up the egg white whipping process and contributes to a stable, billowy, glossy meringue, perfect for cookies, topping pies, and folding into cake.
Too much butter makes cookies turn out just as you'd expect: very buttery. This batch of cookies was cakey in the middle, but also airy throughout, with crispy edges. They were yellow and slightly puffy in the middle, and brown and super thin around the perimeter.
To prevent this make sure the baking sheets are always at least on room temperature. Ideally you want to cut your cookies and then chill them with the baking sheet. that way the tray is still cool when it goes in the oven and the cookies have no time to spread before they are baked through.
If your cookies are spreading out too much and not holding their shape, place the entire cookie sheet of cut cookies into the fridge or freezer for a bit, maybe 5 minutes, before baking. Cool on the pan for 1 minute before removing onto a cooling rack.
Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating. I like to decorate cookies directly on baking sheets so I can stick the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator to help set the icing. So place the cooled cookies back on baking sheets.
After your cookies have completely cooled, store batches of your baked cookies in either airtight containers or gallon freezer bags. Separate each layer with parchment or plastic wrap: this is particularly important if you have a soft cookie.
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