Some mistakes easily made by bakers include glancing at the recipe too swiftly. First, check you have everything ready. Once you are all set, take it slow and steady so your cookies turn out perfectly. Berlin (dpa) – People in many parts of the world bake cookies and give them to others especially during the holidays. But baking, as many of us know, is all about precision. So to achieve excellent results, you need to be well organized. Here is how to avoid mistakes when baking cookies. Potential mistake number 1: Skimming the recipe You can easily overlook an important step or ingredient if you skim over the recipe. People often overlook the times for proving or resting dough, and that occasionally causes problems for baking enthusiasts. Also, rookies tend to modify the recipe as they see fit or vary the order of the ingredients. Solution: Carefully read all the way through the recipe before you start baking to get an overview of the duration, difficulty and ingredients, say specialists from the German Bakers' Association. Here are some details that people often overlook: Does the dough need time to cool or rise?Are all of the baking utensils and ingredients ready?To what temperature should the oven be preheated? Potential mistake number 2: Guessing rather than measuring the ingredients Acting on instinct and guessing visually when following a recipe can complicate even the most ambitious baking project as baking requires precision. Otherwise your dough may quickly become too crumbly, too sticky or too firm. Solution: Measure the ingredients exactly as specified in the recipe. Ideally, weigh everything with scales, including liquids, otherwise the consistency and baking will be thrown off balance, experts warn. It is fine to vary the amount of sugar or spices slightly. But if you want to achieve the same result as in the recipe, you must adhere to the quantities specified. After all, there is usually a technical reason why a recipe contains the specified quantities. "If you change the quantities, resting times, baking times or temperatures, the result will also be different," says German guild baker Florian Lutz, a third-generation baker. He is not only one of 80 bread sommeliers worldwide, but also knows how to make perfect biscuits. Despite measuring accurately, shortcrust pastry – the classic type of dough for biscuits – can sometimes be difficult to roll out, breaking or crumbling. This is probably due to… Potential mistake number 3: Working shortcrust pastry too long Solution: "Shortcrust pastry must be prepared quickly. This means that the ingredients should be kneaded together quickly and the dough should not be rolled out over and over again," says baking blogger and baking book author Kathrin Runge. Do not use too much flour, otherwise the shortcrust pastry will break. Potential mistake number 4: Roll out pastry with wrong amount of flour If the dough sticks, some amateur bakers use far too much flour on the work surface. This can also make the shortcrust pastry dry and crumbly. However, if there is too little flour, it may stick. Solution: Runge suggests you can roll out shortcrust pastry better if you cut open a large freezer bag and work the dough between two layers. Potential mistake number 5: Shortcrust pastry is at the wrong temperature Solution 1: If the dough is too warm, you will need to cool it whoch could take a while. Otherwise, the butter can become too soft when rolling out, which sometimes leads to shortcrust pastry tearing, says Runge. Solution 2: Immediately after cooling, your shortcrust pastry may be still too hard to roll out. Wait until it has reached room temperature. Small mistakes – big impact. Why is dough so sensitive? "If you knead the dough for too long or roll it out when it is too warm, the fat will run out. It will then become tough and tear easily. If you notice that the dough is getting too warm, simply put it back in the fridge and continue later," says Lutz. Even if you avoid these mistakes, things don't always go smoothly. Some frequently asked questions and answers: 1. Which flour is best for cookies? Master baker Lutz prefers type 550 wheat flour and type 405 wheat flour. These two types also work best for Dagmar von Cramm, nutritionist and food blogger, though she also finds type 1050 wheat or spelt flour good for nut and chocolate biscuits. Wholemeal flour is more difficult for beginners to work with, though. 2. Can you stir the shortcrust pastry for biscuits? Lutz says no. "Shortcrust pastry works best when it is kneaded quickly and briefly by hand and then placed in the refrigerator overnight to cool. This makes it perfect for working with the next day." Pre-cool the bowl and spoons, too. 3. Why does shortcrust pastry have to rest in the refrigerator? Without refrigeration, it is often difficult to roll out because it is too soft and sticky. Shortcrust pastry from the refrigerator, which has then reached room temperature, is easier to work with. Resting also allows the individual ingredients to bind better, and sugar crystals dissolve more easily. "It's also no problem to leave shortcrust pastry in the fridge for longer. It can be prepared perfectly and only processed after 2-3 days," says Runge. You can also freeze shortcrust pastry – ideally in small balls so that they thaw more quickly. 4. Should biscuits be baked with fan-assisted or top/bottom heat? Both are fine. "If you opt for fan-assisted, the oven heats up faster and uses less energy. With top/bottom heat, the biscuits don't dry out as much," says Lutz. 5. How do you make cinnamon stars and other biscuits nice and soft? "Shortbread cookies should hopefully be nice and crispy – at least that's how they should be," says Lutz. Other types, such as cinnamon stars, must remain soft. You can achieve that by baking them for the correct amount of time, not too long. With cinnamon stars, if you feel that they are not ready, then they are ready. The white layer should never turn brown. 6. How do you know when the biscuits are done? That depends entirely on the type. With "normal" shortbread biscuits, meaning those you cut out with a cookie cutter, you can tell by their colour whether they need to be taken out of the oven. "As soon as the colour changes from golden yellow to chestnut brown, the biscuits are done," is Lutz's rule of thumb. Von Cramm advises paying attention to the colour at the edges. "If in doubt, lift the biscuits and look at the underside." Also, if you are making shortbread biscuits, the cut-out biscuits themselves do not need to rest, says Lutz. 7. What surface is suitable for cutting out biscuits? It's important that the surface is hard says Lutz. Surfaces made of wood, stone, metal, plastic and so on are generally suitable.You need a hard surface for cutting out biscuits. 8. How do you make icing for biscuits? To make the icing, Lutz simply takes a teaspoon of lemon juice – or more, depending on how many biscuits there are – and mixes it with enough icing sugar to create a thick consistency. If you want a specific colour, add food colouring. "It's best to use powder, otherwise the liquid ratio will be off." 9. Should cookies be decorated before or after baking? Add sugar pearls and the like before baking, but icing decorations should only be added afterwards Lutz says. Von Cramm finds that cookies usually look more decorative with icing or sugar writing. However, they should not be placed directly on top of each other. "Nuts or chocolate decorations that bake with the cookies are more stable. They bond with the dough, which is coated with egg before decorating," she says. Nuts actually develop more flavour when baked. Be careful with dried fruit or sugar decorations. "They quickly become too hard or burn during baking." 10. How can you keep biscuits fresh for as long as possible? "Biscuits stay fresh and tasty for a long time in an airtight metal tin," says Lutz. Let the biscuits cool before placing them in the…
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