In Christmas baking: The most common mistakes when baking cookies

Is there anything nicer than that?Standing in the kitchen with your loved ones and baking tons of cookies in different types, colors and shapes? Hardly. Baking cookies in the run-up to Christmas is at least as much a part of Advent as St. Nicholas, hot chocolate and cozy visits to the Christmas market.

Of course, it's particularly nice when the baked creations not only look great at the end, but also taste good. Unfortunately, this doesn't always workConsistency, aroma or shape of the cookiesoften suffer from the inexperience of their bakers. But as the saying goes: “Practice makes perfect” and “knowledge is the first path to improvement”. That's why we'll tell you in advance about the most common mistakes when baking cookies and also tell you how to avoid them. This is how the successful one standsAlmost nothing in the way this year. We wish you a happy holiday!

A lot helps a lot? Not necessarily, at least when it comes to kneading the dough. If you do thatrevised, he cantough and hardbecause the gluten develops in the flour - which is usually undesirable in cookies. It's best to only knead until the ingredients just come together.

Also onetoo much flourcan affect the cookie dough. If too muchis added, the cookies quickly become dry and crumbly. So work the dough carefully and use excess flour sparingly, even when rolling out the cookie dough, otherwise it can quickly become dry

Another important point is thatTemperature of the individual ingredients, especially the butter. Butter that is too cold makes it difficult to mix the ingredients, while butter that is too warm or liquid makes the dough too soft and sticky. TheIdeally, it should be taken out of the fridge about ten minutes before processing so that it is soft but still malleable.

AlsoRise and cooling timesof the dough should be taken into account. Cookie dough, especially shortcrust pastry, can only be baked after a cooling time ofabout 30 minutesprocess correctly and keep their shape. If you are too hasty, they canfall apart later.

Not too thin, not too fat – but what does that mean? When rolling out the dough it can happen that... either too thick or too thinis rolled out. Cookies that are too thin will burn easily, while cookies that are too thick will not bake evenly. The ideal thickness for cookie dough is usuallyfive millimeters,But it can vary slightly depending on the recipe.

Those tooBaking timeshould not deviate too much from the information in the recipe. Cookies that are baked for too long become dry and hard, while baking times that are too short mean that the dough is still raw on the inside. It helps to check the cookies briefly towards the end of the baking time, as every oven bakes slightly differently. For thicker pastries, the stick test is crucial. If no dough remains stuck when you poke the dough with a wooden stick, the pastry is ready. Also important: the cookiesto provide sufficient distance. If too many cookies are placed too close together, they will easily run together.

Take advantage of that-Baking in the run-up to Christmas as an exercise in mindfulness and patience. Often at the end of a baking marathon we are impatient and start applying icing or decorations too quickly. However, if the cookies have not yet cooled completely, you risk themGlaze or decoration runsand make the end result unsightly. Therefore, the cookies should ideally be placed completely on a rackcool.

Even if you don't have all the ingredients for a recipe at home and are keen to experiment, be careful when swapping ingredients. In particularButter, margarine, flour or sugarcannot always be easily replaced as this can have a significant impact on taste and consistency.