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Cooki Fu f Everon!
Crispy, chewy, or ooey-gooey, we love cookies! Not only do they fill your kitchen with the best aromas ever, but they are super fun to bake—and decorate. Invite friends over aer school or on the weekend to have a cookie party. Choose a few of your favorite recipes, bake them together, and then divide and conquer the decorations. Everyone’s creativity will shine through, and you can all swap cookies at the end of the party.
All good cookies start with good dough, so be sure to check out our tips for making, shaping, and baking on pages 9–10. The right tools are key—you don’t need many, but it’s important to have a few essentials on hand before you get started. Decorating is the fun stuff! Throughout this book, we give oodles of ideas, but use your imagination. There are endless combos of sprinkles, sanding sugar, edible beads, stars, and even flowers to play with.
From classics, such as Mini Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (page 17) or Snickerdoodles (page 30), to sugar cookies (an entire chapter is dedicated to them!), to super-rich brownies and bars, we have a recipe for everyone. Whatever your style—whether you’re daring, playful, colorful, or classic—baking is a great way to create mouthwatering goodies with your own special flair. And last but not least, don’t forget a big glass of milk!
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When making dough, turn off the electric mixer periodically to scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula in between adding ingredients. This will help the ingredients to combine beer.
If dough is too hard to roll directly from the fridge, let it stand at room temperature for a few minutes before rolling. You can also use your hands to mold the dough into a ball if it starts to crumble.
Dust your rolling pin with flour before rolling out dough.
To roll dough scraps, gently gather the scraps and press them together with your hands, then roll them out and cut out additional shapes. Aer a second rolling, discard any remaining dough.
Use a metal spatula to transfer cookie dough shapes from your work surface to cookie sheets, and also to transfer hot cookies from cookie sheets to wire cooling racks.
When a recipe indicates that a cookie is done when it’s “firm to the touch,” be careful when touching hot cookies or ask an adult to help.
Most cookies can be stored in between layers of parchment paper in an airtight container for up to 3 days. If they have a filling, be sure to store them in the refrigerator.
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Adults have lots of culinary wisdom, and can help keep you safe in the kitchen. Always have an adult assist you, especially if your recipe involves high heat, hot ovens, sharp objects, and electric appliances.
This symbol appears throughout the book to remind you that you’ll need an adult to help you with all or part of the recipe. Ask for help before continuing.
Cookie cuers come in all shapes and sizes. All-time favorites are buerflies, stars, flowers, and hearts, but use any you like.
Cookie sheets, especially thick, heavy ones, help cookies bake evenly.
Small metal icing spatulas are good for spreading icing on cookies and transferring hot cookies to a wire rack to cool.
A piping bag fied with a pastry tip is another way to ice cookies and also to pipe cookie dough onto cookie sheets.
A rubber spatula is helpful for mixing baers and scraping them into pans.
An electric mixer makes quick work of baers and frostings, and beating egg whites.
Measuring cups and spoons help you measure ingredients accurately and easily. Choose graduated sets for dry ingredients and a liquid pitcher for wet ingredients.
Oven mis or pads protect your hands from hot pans, oven racks, cookie sheets, and baking dishes.
Parchment paper is paper that has been treated to give it a nonstick surface. It’s used to line cookie sheets and baking pans so that baked goods won’t stick.
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