Chicky Treats

Will Chocolate Cake Dry Out if Stored in the Fridge?

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There is nothing nicer than coming home after a long day to a piece of yummy chocolate cake and a cup of tea or coffee. The best chocolate cakes are fresh, moist, and packed full of chocolatey goodness, and storing them correctly will ensure the flavor and freshness are maintained until you eat the last piece.

Chocolate cake will dry out if stored in the fridge, especially if the cake is unwrapped. To keep your chocolate cake moist, store it in an airtight container or cake dome and leave it on the countertop, pantry, or cupboard. 

It doesn’t matter whether you baked your chocolate cake yourself or picked it up from your local bakery and have some leftovers. Knowing how to store it correctly locks in the moisture, allowing you to enjoy it for a few days.

Why Chocolate Cake Dries Out in the Fridge

Most of us think that if we want any food item to last and stay fresh, it’s best to pop it into the fridge. While this may work for many foods, from fresh fruit and veggies to dairy and meat, this isn’t true for chocolate cake unless it’s a chocolate mousse cake. 

Sponge cakes, like chocolate cakes, have more moisture than the moisture present in the fridge. When you put your cake in the fridge, especially without covering it, the moisture from the cake evaporates and is absorbed into the air, making your cake dry.

The Best Way To Store a Chocolate Cake

To keep your chocolate cake moist and fresh, the best way to store it is to put it into an airtight container. Keep the cake at room temperature and away from direct light or heat sources like the stove, microwave, or air fryer, which will melt the frosting. Your chocolate cake should last for about a day or two if stored this way. 

If you don’t have an airtight container or want to use the cardboard box it came in, you can wrap the box in plastic wrap.

Chocolate Cake Storage Options 

In many homes, freshly baked chocolate cake is polished on the same day it’s baked or bought. But in the unlikely event that it’s not, you need to know how to store it properly. While it is best to keep your chocolate cake at room temperature and eat it within two days, this isn’t always possible.

If you’re a single person, have tons of cake leftover from a party, or for whatever reason can’t finish the cake within two days, you can either store it in the fridge or freezer. 

Storing Chocolate Cake in the Fridge

It’s already been established that keeping the chocolate cake in the fridge is a big no-no because it will dry out, but there are ways around it. If you have cake layers or a plain chocolate cake without icing, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, ensuring all sides are covered. 

Wrapping it in two layers is preferred for extra insulation. Once wrapped, you can safely store it in the fridge.

If your chocolate cake has frosting, you will need to pop it into the fridge for about fifteen minutes to let the icing harden. You can also place it in the freezer so that it sets faster. When the frosting is stiff, remove the cake from the fridge or freezer and wrap it with plastic wrap.

Chilling the chocolate cake first allows the icing to become hard so that it doesn’t smudge when you wrap it. Wrapping it in two layers of plastic wrap gives the cake extra security.

The chocolate cake will keep in the fridge for five to seven days when wrapped securely. 

Storing Chocolate Cake in the Freezer

On the rare occasion that you have way too much chocolate cake that you know you won’t eat within a week, or you want to keep it to enjoy at a later moment, you can freeze it. Many home bakers batch bake cakes and freeze them in layers, ready to take out and defrost when needed. 

Freezing a cake is easy as long as it’s done correctly and none of the cake is exposed to the freezer. The last thing you want is bits of ice in your cake, which will thaw out and make your cake soggy. 

To freeze your chocolate cake, follow the steps I described for freezing—mainly, wrap it securely. Remember to chill it first if it is a frosted cake. If wrapped correctly, the cake will keep for about six months.

When you’re ready to eat your chocolate cake, take it out of the freezer, remove the plastic, place it on a wire rack or plate and let it defrost at room temperature.

Alternatively, you can take it out of the freezer the night before and place it in the fridge with the plastic wrap. You can take it out of the fridge about one to two hours before serving.

Tips for Baking Moist Chocolate Cakes

Storing your chocolate cake correctly will ensure that it doesn’t dry out. However, if you want your cake to be as moist as possible, there are a few things you can do when you’re baking it. Try out the following:

  • Use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour.
  • If you’re using butter, take it out of the fridge about an hour before you bake so that it is at room temperature.
  • Don’t over-beat the butter or over-mix the batter after you add the dry ingredients. 
  • Don’t over-bake the cake, and ensure that the oven is heated to the correct temperature. 
  • Brush the cake with simple syrup, which adds additional moisture.

Final Thoughts

Chocolate cake will dry out if stored in the fridge uncovered. The moisture will evaporate from the cake into the cold air. It is best to keep cakes in an airtight container at room temperature. 

Chocolate cakes can be stored in the fridge or freezer as long as they are securely wrapped in plastic wrap. You can keep chocolate cake in the fridge for up to two days and in the freezer for up to six months.

Can You Rebake Cookies To Make Them Crispy?

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Everyone loves a good, tasty cookie. These snacks have a variety of ingredients, usually based on the baker’s preference. The texture that cookies come in also differs, but what do you do in cases where you want crispy cookies, but they keep turning out soft and chewy?

You can rebake cookies to make them crispy. Some cookies only need about five minutes of rebaking to get their fresh, melting, and warm taste back and become crispy again. However, others may need about ten to 15 minutes in an oven set to 300-350 °F (149-177 °C).

The rest of this article will further explain how to make crispy cookies and how to rebake cookies to make them crispy. Keep reading to also find out why cookies go soft and how to preserve your rebaked crispy cookies. 

How To Rebake Cookies To Make Them Crispy

Even when you strictly follow a recipe, your cookies can surprise you. It can be very annoying to end up with cookies that are either not as crispy as imagined or grew soft over time. A rebake can fix this and restore the crispiness. Here’s how you can rebake your cookies to make them crispy:

1. Heat the Oven to 300–350 °F (149-177 °C)

The exact temperature depends on the state of the already baked cookies. If they’d been baked brown initially, a moderate to low temperature is satisfactory. It’s pretty important to get perfect heat for cookies because it largely defines how your cookies turn out.

2. Use a Wire Rack

You should use a wire rack to prevent overbaking your cookies. If you use a hot pan, it’ll continue baking the cookies and end up overbaking them, even when they’re out of the oven. On the other hand, using a wire rack will get air to circulate over the cookies, so they get baked just right. This way, the cookies stand a higher chance of being crispy.

3. Rebake for the Right Period

The duration for rebaking should depend on how well-baked the cookies initially were. You can rebake well-done cookies in as few as five minutes. If the cookies are light-brown, on the other hand, they may need ten to 15 minutes in the oven to get properly crispy.

Keep peeking in on the color of the cookies, so you can take them out as soon as they’re golden brown. 

4. Observe the Cookies Closely

Because this is the second baking round, you have to pay extra attention to the baking process. A slight lag in the check-in time can make or mar the cookies, so ideally, you should stay with them all through while rebaking. If you can’t do that, though, it’s crucial that you check in on them frequently. 

5. Keep the Oven Door Shut

Keeping the oven door shut is equally vital in achieving crispy results during rebaking. It’ll help keep the oven temperature stable and ensure even heat circulation for crisp cookie results. This is where an oven light comes in handy because it allows you to look in on the cookies without constantly opening the door to check on them.

Tips on Making Crispy Cookies

While some people want their cookies soft and chewy, others prefer their cookies crispier. Here are a few tips that’ll help you make super crispy cookies:

  • Cut out eggs from the baking recipe: Don’t use white or brown eggs in your baking if you want crispy cookies. Eggs naturally contain moisture, which’ll cause your cookies to go brittle and soft. For crunchy and crispy cookies, no eggs should be used.
  • Use less flour: Flour adds the main texture and fluff to cookies. If you use too much, though, it could make your cookies tender and mildly soggy. Cookies with less flour are usually crispier.
  • Bake immediately after forming the dough: After the ingredients are mixed and your dough is ready, bake it directly. Leaving the dough unbaked could make your cookies turn out soft and chewy instead of being crisp.
  • Bake at a lower oven temperature: If the oven temperature is too high, the required heat doesn’t spread across cookies for proper baking. Baking at a lower temperature will ensure cookies are adequately spread before they begin to rise for evenness and crispiness.
  • Avoid using brown sugar: Brown sugar has extra molasses, so it contains more moisture than white sugar. Brown sugar also has more acid that forms a reaction with the baking soda that helps cookies rise. That’s why it’s not advisable to use brown sugar if you’re hoping for crispy cookies. White sugar, on the other hand, helps in creating a crusty feel and gives cookies a crispy, crunchy taste.
  • Use all-purpose flour: All-purpose flour is very versatile, and it has a high protein content that forms more gluten. With more gluten formed, the cookie dough gets more elastic. The elasticity in the dough forms a huge part of what the cookies feel and taste like, so with all-purpose flour, crisping and browning are easier.

Why Do Cookies Go Soft?

Cookies go soft because they absorb the humidity in the air. The tiny drops of water they absorb from the atmosphere will form moisture in the cookies and cause them to get soft. 

Other flour-made snacks like bread or cakes become stiff with more time spent in the air, but cookies are different. As they spend more time in the air, they absorb moisture and get softer. 

How To Preserve Your Rebaked Crispy Cookies

After rebaking your cookies to get them nice and crispy again, you should keep them from losing that crunch. Here are tips for preserving your crispy cookies:

  • Before storing the cookies, ensure they completely cool down. 
  • Store the cookies in an airtight cookie jar, so they don’t get moist. 
  • Don’t store cookies in a plastic container. A glass cookie jar will do nicely.
  • A piece of white bread can be a good preservative. It helps to absorb the moisture that could soften the cookies.
  • If you bake different cookie flavors, separate them and store them in different containers.
  • You can freeze your cookies to maintain their crispness for up to two months.

Conclusion

Follow these steps to get the crisp back in your cookies by rebaking them. Cheers to eating crunchier cookies!

A Brief History of Scones (and Fun Facts)

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You most probably have enjoyed a scone during a meal or as a snack in your life. You also have likely eaten more than one scone variety. But, have you ever wondered about its origin and how the scone got its name? 

Scones are pastries made from wheat or oatmeal with baking powder as the raising agent before baking on sheet pans and are often served at breakfast or for tea. The key ingredients for making scones include flour, granulated sugar, fruits, nuts, and baking powder.

The sections below answer various questions about scones, including a brief history and fun facts. Keep reading if you’re interested in finding out the best time to eat a scone and the common types of scones.

How Do Scones Differ From Other Pastries?

Scones differ from other pastries in that they are shaped differently and contain baking powder as a leavening agent. Additionally, scones do not have yeast, an essential ingredient in bread and other baked goods. 

Scones look a lot like biscuits and are also served as breakfast pastries, snacks, and meal accompaniments. While this feature is a lot like other breakfast pastries, they differ in that they are richer and crumblier than biscuits, often flakier and airier. 

They also do not use the yeast used to raise baked bread. Instead, they use baking soda or baking powder as a raising agent.

You should also note that scones differ between themselves too. For instance, British scones should be served with jam, clotted cream, and butter. However, American scones usually don’t need butter toppings because they contain enough butter. Of course, you can put butter on top of them if you like. (We don’t judge here!)

Where Did Scones Originate?

Scones originated from Scotland in the 1500s as a quick bread baked using wheat or oats before being baked on a griddle. The first printed reference of scones traceable back to a 1513 Scottish poet.

Scones are a common pastry enjoyed by many people and cultures globally. However, the birthplace of scones traces back to Scotland in the 1500s, where it originated as a quick bread baked from wheat or oats. 

Fun fact: Quick bread is baked using leavening agents instead of yeast and thus requires lesser proofing and rising time.

The inventor of the scone recipe remains unknown despite knowing its place of origin. There are multiple stories detailing how scones got their name. The most common indicates that the name originated from the Stone of destiny, which Scottish Kings sat on during coronation.

However, the most logical origin suggests that scones got their name from Schootbrot, which is a Dutch word for fine, white bread.

Scones’ popularity is attributed to the Duchess of Bedford, who requested tea and scones every day as an afternoon snack until it became routine. Scones became a popular tea snack among the elite families and gradually trickled down to the common folk.

Fun Facts About Scones

There are multiple fun facts that make scones interesting that you probably have never thought about. Here are a few:

  • Originally, scones were much larger and shaped differently than they are today.
  • Historical scones were made from oatmeal and wheat into large disc-like cakes, unlike today’s, which are much smaller and look like lumps.
  • You can make scones in various shapes which you prefer. For instance, American scones are often shaped like triangles and wedges compared to British scones. The latter are usually round, tall, and fluffier. 
  • The term was first used in 1513, according to the Oxford dictionary.
  • Historically, the appropriate time for scones was with the 4:00 PM tea. People today, however, eat scones at various times of the day, including as a breakfast pastry or as a snack. 
  • The pronunciation of “scones” usually varies significantly depending on where you were raised. This has sparked a significant debate about the correct pronunciation of the word, which drew the Queen’s contribution, with some pronouncing it as “s-kon” while others “s-kone.” 
  • The origin of scones is closely related to the ancient Welsh tradition of baking small, round yeast cakes on small stones.

Best Time To Enjoy Scones

Just as there exists a debate about the correct pronunciation of “scones,” so does the debate on the right way to eat them. So, is there a right way or time to eat scones?

Historically, at least according to the English and the Duchess of Bedford’s snacking routine, the appropriate time for scones was with the afternoon tea at precisely 4:00 PM. 

Today, people eat scones with breakfast, the 10 AM tea, as snacks at any time, and as accompaniments during meals. So, while “scone purists” may feel otherwise, there is no definite time for eating scones. 

You can have them any time you please. 

Common Varieties of Scones

Over the years, people worldwide have developed a variety of scone recipes. There are numerous scone varieties made from various ingredients to achieve different flavors. 

Here are a few examples of common varieties of scones:

  • Butter scones: Butter scones are richer in flavor than most scones, have a bread-like texture, and are ideal at any time of the day.
  • Scottish scones: Scottish scones are made using rolled oats to resemble the historical scones from 1513.
  • Tattie scones: Tattie scones are soft scones primarily made from mashed potatoes, plain flour, and butter. 
  • English scones: English scones contain less butter and sugar and are enriched using milk.
  • American scones: American scones contain more sugar and butter than English scones, are denser, and are triangle or wedge-shaped. 

These are just a few examples of the many types of scones that exist with others, including fruited scones, lemon scones, blueberry, and chocolate chip scones.

Final Thoughts

Scones are a sweet and light pastry option making them ideal for numerous occasions, including breakfast with the family, brunch during a business meeting, or as a snack. 

They are also easy to make and have simple recipes which allow you to experiment with new and different baking ideas for exciting flavors. You should consider making scones a regular pastry option on your meal timetable for a sweet and healthy breakfast, snack, or accompaniment option.

How Long Should You Let Muffins Cool Before Eating?

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Muffins are a favorite baked good for many, and as such, the natural desire is to eat them right out of the pan. As understandable as this is, it’s dangerous to eat a muffin that’s fresh out of the oven. The question then becomes, how long should you wait before eating fresh muffins?

You should always let muffins cool for at least a few minutes at the very least before eating them. Otherwise, they will scald your tongue. It’s essential to follow a proper, step-by-step cooling process to enjoy your muffins safely.

In this article, I’ll explain how to properly cool your muffins so that they can be safely enjoyed without repercussions. I’ll also give you tips on storing them for later, without ruining them.

How Many Minutes Exactly Should You Let Muffins Cool?

When you’ve finished baking your muffins, you’ll want to know how long you have to wait before you can remove them from the pan. Thankfully, you won’t have to wait long.

Anton’s Cafe Bar, a cooking and baking site, advises that you let the muffins spend five minutes cooling in the pan. They also warn that leaving them in the pan for much longer than this could have an adverse effect on your muffins’ texture.

Patience is key when baking muffins. Because of their delicate texture, they can get ruined from just a couple of minutes of mistimed steps. 

Let’s take a look at what else factors into properly cooling muffins.

Check Your Muffins for Doneness

Another good rule of thumb is knowing the signs that your muffins have finished cooling. When checking your muffins, they should be cooked all the way through while also remaining firm enough to be held. If they aren’t firmed up, they’ll quickly fall apart.

There are a few simple tricks for testing muffin doneness. If the muffin is firm to the touch instead of being too soft, it’s done baking. You can also run a toothpick through one to see if any part of the batter needs more time.

Keep in mind that you should always test a muffin in the center of your pan when you do this doneness test. Muffins baked in the center offer a far more objective view of whether or not the entire pan is fully baked.

Storing Your Muffins

It’s crucial to ensure that your muffins are correctly stored so that they can last for as long as possible. With that being said, contrary to what would seem logical, you want to avoid immediately placing them in your fridge.

Placing your muffins in the fridge just after they’re cool enough to eat will cause them to dry up rapidly. This results from the refrigerator causing the moisture in muffins to dissipate. 

It’s imperative to place your muffins in the fridge for safekeeping, but this should only be done when they’ve thoroughly cooled. 

Muffins follow the same rules as cooked rice, which also must be thoroughly cooled before being stored. Better Homes and Gardens writes that rice, too, can get adversely affected by improper storage in a fridge. 

Always be sure that your muffins have fully cooled before storing them away. Of course, you should also watch out that you don’t leave them out for too long, either. Muffins, unfortunately, won’t last longer than a day if they aren’t put away because they lose any remaining moisture.

Storage Rules for Different Muffins

Not all muffins are made the same, and for this reason, it’s essential to know that not all muffins last as long as others. Depending on the ingredients, your muffins might only be good for a couple of days.

You can generally determine how long your muffins will last by the type of ingredients they use. Any muffins that use fresh (or frozen) fruit will only last up to two days before the fruit gets moldy. On the other hand, muffins made out of drier ingredients, like nuts, can last up to an entire week.

As another rule of thumb, if a muffin includes something like cheese that normally requires refrigeration, you should also refrigerate the muffin. If your muffins contain dairy ingredients, you should always store them in the fridge to be safe.

How To Know if Your Muffins Have Gone Bad

Like any other baked good, muffins will eventually become inedible after some time. 

Let’s look at some common indicators of rotten muffins. 

Mold is the first warning sign that it’s time to toss your muffins out. If your muffins either look off or taste funky, you should likewise get rid of them. 

Another standard indicator is if your muffins have dried out too much. If this happens, it’s time to toss them out and make a new batch.

A Cheat Technique for Better Muffins

One way to avoid any potential muffin mishaps is to know how to prepare them ahead of time. While you can certainly freeze your baked muffins once they’ve thoroughly cooled, you can also freeze the batter for a quick baking hack.

Freezer Meals 101’s Sharla presented an informative YouTube video explaining how to freeze muffin batter in this fashion:

https://youtu.be/OTqu_Edrt8s

As Sharla says in her above video, the great thing about this freezing technique is that it saves you time and dishes. This trick makes it super easy to always have muffins ready to be baked at a moment’s notice.

By freezing your muffin batter ahead of time, you’ll be able to bake up a fresh batch at a moment’s notice. This is great for when you’re expecting company so that you can impress them with a homemade treat. 

Conclusion

Always wait at least five minutes before removing your muffins from the pan. And when it comes to properly storing them, it’s important to wait until they’ve thoroughly cooled. This way, you can enjoy your muffins at a later time without any issues.

Patience is key when baking and storing muffins. Avoid rushing these processes to ensure that your muffins will last as long as possible.

5 Reasons Why Gingerbread Cookies Crack

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Gingerbread cookies are a holiday favorite for many. They are tasty, fun to design, and a nostalgic nod to centuries past—in fact, gingerbread has been a treat since 2400 BC, and making the cookies is a festive activity that families enjoy worldwide. But why do gingerbread cookies crack so often? 

Here are five reasons why your gingerbread cookies may crack: 

  • The recipe you used did not call for the right ingredients. 
  • The cookies were overbaked. 
  • Cheap cookie cutters cracked the dough. 
  • You rolled the cookie dough too thin.
  • You did not chill the dough before rolling it. 

Let’s explore some of the common reasons why your gingerbread cookies may be cracking.

1. The Recipe You Used Did Not Call for the Right Ingredients

There are many reasons that your gingerbread cookies may crack, but one of the biggest culprits is likely the recipe that you are using. There are countless gingerbread cookie recipes available online, and some are much better than others. A few critical ingredients may get left out or replaced in specific recipes, which can have catastrophic effects on your gingerbread cookies. 

Here are a few recipe factors that may make your gingerbread cookies crack: 

  • The recipe you used did not call for enough butter, or any at all. 
  • You forgot to put an egg in the gingerbread cookie recipe. 
  • The recipe excluded molasses.

These three ingredients—butter, egg, and molasses—are the most common ingredients that will cause your gingerbread cookies to crack when left out or not used properly. Still, they are not the only ingredients that can cause this problem to happen. 

Make sure to choose a good recipe when making your gingerbread cookies. Ask a friend, relative, or local chef what some of their tried and true recipes are for gingerbread cookies. 

Finding the right recipe can make all the difference in the world on how your cookies look and hold up to the rigors of designing and storing. Experiment with different recipes to find one that yields the most crack-free cookies.

2. The Cookies Were Overbaked

Overbaking is one of the most common mistakes any home cook makes, especially when it comes to cookies. This common mistake is especially common during the busy holiday season when gingerbread cookies are most often made. At this time, you already have so many distractions happening in and out of the kitchen. 

If you leave your cookies in the oven for too long, they will dry out and have a less flexible texture. Your gingerbread cookies will be much more delicate once they dry and can be prone to cracking if they get bumped when stored, designed, or handled shortly before eating them. 

Because gingerbread cookies go through a lot of handling when you draw their faces, outfits, and overall design, you want to make sure that your cookie is not overbaked. Set a timer, make sure the oven is at the correct heat, and you should have gingerbread that does not crack. 

3. Cheap Cookie Cutters Cracked the Dough

When you make gingerbread cookies, you probably like to use a cookie-cutter in the shape of a person’s silhouette. There are many different cookie cutters on the market, but not all of them will give you the same results when you go to shape your gingerbread cookies. 

Choosing a cookie cutter with very sharp edges is essential to get the right shape for your gingerbread cookies. 

Using a well-made cookie cutter with sharp edges will give you far better results with your cookie. If you use a cheap cookie cutter with dull edges, your cookies will be much more apt to break. Just like using a dull knife on fruit or vegetables, using a cookie cutter that is not sharp will lead to smashing, cracking, and breaking your gingerbread cookies. 

Choose a well-crafted cookie cutter to get the best results for your cookies. The Ann Clark Happy Gingerbread Man Cookie Cutter (available on Amazon.com) has a reputation for being sharp enough to give you the desired stability for your gingerbread cookies. 

4. You Rolled the Cookie Dough Too Thin

Rolling cookie dough is a fun part of the process, but it takes experience and skill to do it correctly. Rolling your dough too thin is one of the most frequent causes of cookies not coming out the way you want them. Making sure your dough is not too thin is especially true with gingerbread cookies and can be a huge problem when you need your cookies to be uniform and sturdy enough to paint them with frosting later. 

The best height for rolling your gingerbread cookie dough is approximately ⅛ inch (3 mm). This height will give you cookies that have just the right thickness for an excellent overall mouthfeel, and they will be sturdy enough not to crack. Any thinner than this and the chances of your gingerbread cookies cracking will be much higher. 

You can always roll your dough a little bit thicker if you want to ensure your cookies aren’t too thin after baking. Feel free to experiment with different dough heights to find what works best for you.

5. You Did Not Chill the Dough Before Rolling It

Many people skip one crucial step when making gingerbread cookies: chill the dough before using the rolling pin and shaping the cookies. 

You need to chill the dough before shaping it in order for everything to mix together correctly and uniformly. Making sure everything is blended is especially important for the liquid components of your cookie dough. According to King Arthur Flour, putting your dough in the refrigerator gives the sugar time to absorb the wet ingredients.  

When your cookies haven’t had enough time to chill, they are more vulnerable to spreading. Spreading is not only visually unappealing for your gingerbread cookies, but it can also have an impact on their durability. If your cookies spread and are no longer a uniform shape, they are prone to being too thin and breaking in some areas. 

11 Reasons Why Your Cookies Taste Doughy

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Cookie baking is a relaxing, stimulating hobby that the whole family can enjoy. You’ll love making the dough and sometimes you might even get to cut it into fun shapes like hearts or snowflakes. However, cookies can be tricky to get right in the oven; it’s too easy for them to become too hard or too doughy.

Here are 11 reasons why your cookies taste doughy:

  • Your cookies are underbaked.
  • Your oven temperature is too low.
  • You didn’t preheat the oven.
  • You opened the oven door while your cookies were baking.
  • Your cookies are baked unevenly.
  • You only used brown sugar.
  • You used too much butter in your dough.
  • Your dough wasn’t cool enough before being baked.
  • The butter in your dough was too soft.
  • You live at a high altitude.
  • You used the wrong type of fat.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the most common reasons why your cookies may end up doughy and how you can prevent them from happening.

1. Your Cookies Are Underbaked

Perhaps the most common reason why your cookies may be doughy is that they’re underbaked. Underbaked cookies are taken out of the oven before being completely baked through. 

When your cookies are underbaked, not enough moisture gets released in the air. Underbaking often results in cookies that are still raw in the middle. 

Fixing underbaked cookies is quite easy. All you need to do is put your cookies back in the oven for a little longer. Sometimes you should also increase your oven temperature if it’s too low. The amount of time you need to put your cookies back in the oven depends on how underbaked they are. Try checking every minute to every minute and a half after putting the underbaked cookies in the oven to see if they’re done. 

2. Your Oven Temperature Is Too Low

Another reason why your cookies might be doughy is that your oven temperature is too low. When you try to cook at too low of an oven temperature, your cookies will likely turn out too pale and soft. 

Cookie baking is very finicky, and everything needs to be “just right” to get that perfect cookie. Too low of an oven temperature may create a doughy consistency. In contrast, oven temperatures that are too high may cause your cookies to burn.

Again, this issue requires a relatively simple fix. All you need to do is increase your oven temperature the next time you bake a batch of cookies! Most cookies are baked between 350 and 375℉ (177 – 190℃), but some recipes can range anywhere from 300℉ (149℃) to 425℉ (218℃).

3. You Didn’t Preheat the Oven

When reading a recipe, the first step usually calls for preheating the oven. Preheating your oven before even starting to make your cookie dough guarantees that the oven will be ready for you to put the cookies in when you’re ready.

Cookies generally only take 10-12 minutes in the oven, so if the equipment isn’t completely preheated, the cookies may not cook all the way through. This makes your cookies doughy. 

Try to read through your recipe before you start baking. Alternatively, if you forget to preheat the oven, wait until after it’s done preheating before putting your cookies in.

4. You Opened the Oven Door While Your Cookies Were Baking

Wanting to check on your cookies as they bake is completely normal and something you should actually do. Just be careful with how you check on them.

Opening the oven door to check on your cookies allows heat to escape, lowering the overall oven temperature. And, as I’ve already mentioned, if your cookies bake at too low of a temperature, they may come out raw and doughy.

Losing oven heat isn’t as bad for cookies as it can be for cakes or other baked goods, but you still don’t want to do it. The cookies won’t brown or spread out as they should when the oven loses heat during the cooking process.

Use the light in the oven and make sure the window is clean in order to check on your cookies’ status rather than opening the door.

5. Your Cookies Are Baked Unevenly

Sometimes your cookies may be doughy because the cookies themselves aren’t of equal thickness. If some cookies are thicker than others, the thinner ones will be done much quicker than their sizier counterparts, so the thicker cookies won’t completely cook through and will likely come out doughy.

Most often, when your cookies are baked unevenly, it’s due to your dough not being rolled to a consistent thickness throughout. Unevenly baked cookies may also occur from opening the oven door too frequently. The cookies at the back of the oven are exposed to more heat than those closest to the oven door.

You can prevent uneven cookies by using an ice cream scooper, either spring-released or manual. That way, each cookie is sized identically, and there should be no unevenness. 

If you don’t have an ice cream scoop, the Cookie Scoop Set from CHEE MONG (available on Amazon.com) is terrific. These ice cream scoops are specifically created for helping with baking, meaning you’ll be able to expertly scoop cookie dough as well as ice cream.

6. You Only Used Brown Sugar

As I’ve already mentioned, cookies can be extremely finicky. The type of sugar you use in your cookies helps determine whether the end result is crispy or soft/doughy. White sugar has a predisposition to make cookies crispier. In contrast, brown sugar, specifically dark brown sugar, makes cookies softer or doughy-like.

If you use all brown sugar, or mostly brown sugar, your cookies are more likely to be extremely soft and/or doughy. 

Therefore, if you want really crispy cookies, use only white sugar. For a good balance between crispy and chewy, use a mixture of both white and brown sugar. 

7. You Used Too Much Butter in Your Dough

If your cookies are crispy on the outside, but raw and doughy in the middle, it’s possible that you used too much butter in your dough. An excessive amount of butter can make your cookies spread quickly and too much. When this occurs, the outside of the cookie finishes cooking faster than the inside.

If you think that your cookies taste doughy because you’ve added too much butter to the dough, lower the amount of butter you put in for the next batch of cookies. Keep in mind that it’s also possible to use too little butter as well.

If you don’t add enough butter to your cookies, the opposite will happen, and your cookies will be too dry and crumbly.

8. Your Dough Wasn’t Cool Enough Before Being Baked

Warm or slightly warm dough can also lead to cookies that are crispy on the outside and raw and doughy on the inside. This is because the warmth of the dough makes the outside of the cookie bake faster than the inside.

When baking cookies, I’d suggest putting the cookie dough in the fridge for a minimum of 10 minutes before putting it in the oven so that the dough cools enough to cook thoroughly and evenly.

The longer you keep your raw cookie dough in the fridge, the easier it will be to work with. If you can, putting the dough in the fridge for about 24 hours is your best bet.

9. The Butter in Your Dough Was Too Soft

Soft butter doesn’t allow aeration in the dough, making it heavy instead of fluffy as it should be. The cookies will spread and thin out quickly while in the oven. Again, if the butter you’re putting in your dough is too soft, the edges of your cookies will be done baking before the center.

On the other hand, it’s also possible to use butter that’s too cold (for example, straight from the fridge). When you put cold butter in your cookie dough, the cookies will be denser and won’t spread enough while in the oven.

To ensure that your butter is neither too soft nor too cold, take it out of the fridge 15 minutes before mixing it into the dough. 

10. You Live at a High Altitude

Higher elevation often makes it necessary to cook or bake foods for shorter or longer periods of time. You might need to add water or increase or decrease the amount of leavening ingredients for your dessert of choice to turn out perfectly.

While cookies bake for short periods of time and are less susceptible to issues with baking in high elevations (above 3,000 feet or 914 meters), you still need to consider your altitude when baking.

When baking cookies at higher altitudes, increase water content, bake at a higher temperature, and lower the baking time. King Arthur Baking has an excellent website that provides lots of in-depth information if you’re baking cookies at a higher elevation. 

11. You Used the Wrong Type of Fat

You can use different types of fat when baking cookies, from butter and shortening to margarine. Each option can affect your cookies in various ways, for example, making them oily, puffy, too flat, or too chewy. 

If you find that your cookies are too chewy, use only butter, specifically stick butter. Other fats may make your cookies even chewier or not allow them to bake thoroughly. 

How Long Does It Take To Bake Cookies at 350 °F?

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There’s nothing better than eating a warm, perfectly baked cookie that melts in your mouth, bringing a smile of satisfaction to your face. Over the years, baking cookies has been a tradition in many families for the holidays or parties. The best part about baking cookies is it doesn’t take as long as some of the other baked sweets.

When baking cookies at 350 °F (176.67 °C), it takes 8-10 minutes until they are done. The edges will become golden in color, and the middle will lose the raw shine and appear puffy. Remove them from the oven and place them on a cooling rack to firm up, waiting about 5 minutes before diving in.

This article will discuss the science of making and baking cookies and provide a few additional tips and tricks. Let’s get started!

Why You Bake Cookies at 350 °F

Baking at 350 °F (176.67 °C) is the recommended standard temperature due to the Maillard reaction (more on that later). This process starts happening between the temperatures of 300 °F (148.89 °C) and 350 °F (176.67 °C). Another reason is that ovens do not heat the same or may fluctuate in temperature. 

Setting the temperature at 350 °F (176.67 °C) ensures the proper temperature is attained for browning, even if your inside temperature fluctuates.

The Science of Making Cookies

The benefit of making cookies from scratch is that you can change a few measurements to get the desired chewiness or crispiness in your cookie. You can start by making the basic cookie dough, then play around with adding flavors. Look through your pantry and refrigerator to ensure you have everything you need before starting. 

Most cookie recipes have the same base ingredients because there’s a science to how they work together.

  • Flour. This is the foundation for the dough. 
  • Sugar. This isn’t just for sweetness; it provides texture and caramelizes, and it’s also a tenderizer affecting form and structure. 
  • Binding agents. These include fats (butter) and eggs. They provide rich flavor and texture and bind everything together.
  • Leavening (rising) agents: These are baking soda and baking powder. They prevent the cookie from being flat and dense by helping to produce gas to make it rise.
  • Salt and vanilla extract. These provide a flavor balance to your cookies.

The Perfect Cookie

It may sound complex, but it’s an easy process once you understand how the ingredients and temperature work together to form the perfect cookie. As previously mentioned, there is a science to the reaction of the ingredients during the baking process. It boils down to having the proper ratio (3:2:1 of flour to fat to sugar) and the correct temperatures.

Here’s a step by step process for mixing and baking your ingredients to get the perfect batch of cookies. 

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (176.67 °C). Prepare your baking sheet with parchment paper or use reusable silicone mats (highly recommended for even baking). Invest in an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is at the correct baking temperature since not all ovens are accurate with internal temperature. Investing in an oven thermometer helps ensure temperature accuracy for anything you place in the oven, not just cookies. 
  2. Cream your butter and sugar for about 3 minutes. Enough for the sugar to dissolve into the butter and aerate the batter, creating volume. This makes the batter appear smooth, firm with volume, and lighter in color. Take the butter out of the fridge about 1 hour before mixing; it should be slightly cool, firm when handled, and indent when touched. Use a hand mixer or stand mixer with a timer for 3 minutes. 
  3. After creaming your butter, beat in the eggs one by one. This adds moisture as it fills in the aerated batter. As with butter, the egg yolk adds a delicious flavor.  
  4. Accurately measure the dry ingredients to prevent throwing off the ratio. Use a sifter to aerate and blend the dry ingredients. Slowly and gently fold the dry ingredients into the batter with a spatula, scraping the sides to get everything evenly mixed. Remember, don’t overwork the dough, or you’ll have flat, dense cookies. 
  5. If you have any chocolate chips, nuts, etc., to add, gently fold in the ingredients with your spatula. It’s highly recommended to chill your dough for at least 30 mins (the longer, the better) before baking. This process allows the fats to cool and bind to the ingredients while adding a concentrated flavor to your finished batch. The dough also spreads slower, retaining the moisture for better texture and browning while baking.
  6. Spoon drop your batter or gently roll into balls and place onto the sheets with enough room to spread and rise. Be consistent with the batter size and space for the cookies to bake evenly. An easy technique for consistent portions is to use a small scoop.
  7. Place them in the oven (using the middle rack in the center) and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges turn golden and the center is puffy. Remove from the oven and keep them on the sheet for 1 to 2 minutes. Place them on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes to let the ingredients finish firming. 

How the Ingredients React When Baked

Red Path Sugar explains how the ingredient chemistry works once the cookies are placed in the oven.

  1. The dough loosens and spreads from warming and the butter melting.
  2. When the dough spreads, it thins, which causes the edges to set quicker than the center.
  3. As the cookie dough loosens from the melted butter, the water combines with the baking soda, reacting with the acidic components present in brown sugar. This creates gasses causing the cookie to rise.
  4. Egg proteins and starches set, finalizing the form of the cookie.
  5. Sugar granules melt together, causing the hottest areas to caramelize.
  6. The Maillard reaction takes place between amino acids and reducing sugars. The caramelizing and proteins in the cookie begin to brown, producing a rich, nutty, toasted flavor.
  7. The sugars cool and solidify during the cooling process, producing that golden crisp on the bottoms and edges. As the remaining air cools, the cookie slightly deflates.

Final Thoughts

Cookie recipes are possibly the most popular of all searches for baked goods. Most people don’t realize there’s a science to it, which includes the baking temperature. 

The baking and cooling process is relatively quick. Baking for 8-10 minutes, while keeping the temperature at 350 °F (176.67 °C) is essential to ensure the Maillard reaction occurs.

Once you get the science down, you can bake the perfect cookie every time!

Do Soft Cookies Mean They’re Undercooked?

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You followed the recipe exactly, chilled the dough, and baked your cookies for the mandatory 8-12 minutes, only to find out they still seemed a bit soft to the touch. If you’ve found yourself in this situation, you’re not alone. Determining the right time to take your cookies out of the oven can often be challenging, especially for novice bakers, but do soft cookies really mean they’re undercooked?

Soft cookies don’t mean they’re undercooked. Cookies continue baking through residual heat even when they’re out of the oven, so to get the perfect texture, you’ll want to take them out of the oven when they’ve changed color but are still soft to the touch, for a total bake time of 8-12 minutes.

A cookie’s consistency and relatively small volume allow for it to continue cooking even when taken out of the oven, so you want it to be a bit soft before letting it cool. However, there are some caveats and nuances to this rule. In the following sections, I’ll explain all about why cookies are so soft after baking, how to know when your cookies are done, and more.

Why Cookies Are So Soft After Baking

If your cookies seem too soft after the allotted bake time, there’s no need to panic. 

At this point, I’ve baked hundreds of batches of cookies, with some being more successful than others, and I can confidently tell you that if your cookies look and feel like they have the correct consistency right out of the oven, chances are they’re a bit overcooked. 

As long as all the indicators of a fully-baked cookie are there, it doesn’t matter how soft or crumbly the batch might feel when taken out of the oven. With enough cool time, the cookies will take on the consistency you were looking for.

If anything, I’d say that having your batch feel soft right out of the oven is an excellent sign that the end product will be perfectly-cooked, featuring a crumbly, chewy texture, which is what most cookie recipes aim for.

However, if you prefer a crunchier cookie, you might want to adjust and experiment a bit with the bake time. 

Even still, you want to be aware that the texture of your freshly baked cookies won’t be the same as the texture they’ll have once they’re thoroughly cooled. Make sure not to leave the oven on for too long, or they’ll feel stale and hard to bite into only a few hours afterward.

Generally speaking, a standard cookie should take anywhere from 8 to 12 minutes to fully cook through, even less if you prefer a chewier consistency. In any case, I wouldn’t advise leaving a batch of cookies in the oven for more than 14 minutes, as by that time, most recipes will be on the brink of being overcooked.

Most cookies aren’t completely done until half an hour after being taken out of the oven, so some foresight is necessary.

How To Know When Your Cookies Are Done

There are a few exceptions to the “soft cookies aren’t undercooked rule,” as there really is such thing as a too-soft cookie. Therefore, when checking a batch’s doneness, it’s better to rely on a few other indicators along with feel to determine whether your cookies are done or not. 

Before diving into some handy cues that can help you tell whether your cookies are done or not, it’s essential to keep in mind that cookie doneness is ultimately subjective. 

Depending on your textural preferences, what I consider a perfectly-baked cookie might seem like an underbaked/ overbaked mess to you and vice versa. Therefore, if you’re someone who prefers their cookies significantly chewier or crunchier than the average person, it’s best to make some adjustments to the following tips and tricks to accommodate your unique preferences.

Timing 

Most recipes, especially those coming from reliable sources, are usually tested to a fault. Therefore, following their bake time and temperature exactly is crucial when it comes to getting perfectly-cooked cookies. 

Therefore, it might be best to use a timer, as clean-up can easily take your attention enough for you to forget the cookies baking in the oven. However, it’s just as essential to keep in mind that no two ovens are the same. 

So, if, through experience, you’ve noticed that yours seems to run especially hot or cold, adjust as necessary.

An excellent way to get around this issue is to use an oven thermometer. That way, you won’t have to rely on the equipment’s marking to make sure the interior has reached its ideal temperature.

You’ll also want to make sure not to overcrowd the oven. If you insert more than two baking trays at a time, the temperature might decrease too much too quickly, leading to a sub-par bake and an increased cook time.

Appearance

Even though getting the timing right serves as an excellent guideline for the baking process, you still want to rely on some appearance-based cues to make sure your cookies are actually cooked through. 

The top of the cookies should always be fully (or at least mostly) dry, even if soft. 

Moreover, the surface should have lost its sheen and become more matt or even cracked. The perfect-looking cookie is fully dry around the edges and mostly matt, with a slight shine on top. 

The center should be the slightest bit gooey, but it shouldn’t look or feel wet. A fully baked cookie should still be soft enough to fall apart when taken right out of the oven in most recipes. However, during the following half-hour, you’ll notice that the texture and structural integrity will reach their final form.

If baking a lighter cookie, color is a cue you’ll want to look for as well. 

Generally speaking, you want the edges to have turned a golden hue, but there should be no drastic changes in color. If the surface of your cookies has started browning, you might be too late.

Feel

You can always use feel in conjunction with the previous two methods to make sure that your cookies are fully done. As mentioned repeatedly throughout this article, perfectly-baked cookies should still feel soft and crumbly to the touch. 

However, they should be mostly dry. 

If a batch seems particularly mushy, you might want to put the tray back in the oven for an additional minute or two, but during this time, keep watching your cookies like a hawk.

Is It Okay To Eat Underbaked Cookies?

It’s okay to eat underbaked cookies. Slightly underbaked cookies have probably reached safe temperatures. However, it’s always best to take into account the doneness level of your cookies and the quality of ingredients used in their dough before consuming them.

Moreover, the type of cookie in question also matters. Eggless cookies, for example, can be safe to consume much quicker than their traditional counterparts. 

Considering that the highest-risk ingredients in a cookie are the eggs, it’s safe to assume that the dough is safe to consume once it reaches 160°F (71.1°C). However, a cookie is only fully done between 175 and 185°F (79 and 85°C).

Your health status can also dictate whether it’s safe for you to consume underbaked cookies or not. 

For example, if you’re a healthy adult, salmonella poisoning might not be as risky as it would be if you were immunocompromised, pregnant, or otherwise susceptible to health-related issues. However, you still want to avoid it at all costs even if you are healthy.

Eating underbaked cookies shouldn’t pose any serious health hazards. 

I’ve personally even taken a bite or two out of the raw cookie dough every time I make a batch to check whether there’s a need for any last-minute adjustments. However, this is by no means a safe practice, especially for those predisposed to health complications.

How To Fix Underbaked Cookies

If your cookies seem too shiny, light-colored, or generally soft, chances are they’re still a bit undercooked. The reason behind this is either a too-low temperature or a too-short bake time. But either way, your chances of fixing the issue depending on how quickly you’ve noticed it.

If you’ve just taken your cookies out of the oven, there’s no harm in putting them back in for an additional minute or two. That way, the batch’s final taste, and texture don’t have to suffer.

However, sometimes you’re not as lucky. I’ve experienced this problem firsthand. The cookies seem soft yet dry enough to be fully cooked through, and you take them out only to notice that while they’re cooling, they’re not continuing baking the way you expected them to.

The good news is that you can still attempt to put these cookies back into the oven, but don’t expect to get an ideal consistency. 

Moreover, if your cookies have been sitting out for a while, it’s best to let them cool entirely before re-exposing them to heat. This will allow them to actually cook through instead of burning to a crisp.

Conclusion

Soft cookies don’t mean they’re undercooked, as most cookies are supposed to be soft and crumbly when taken out of the oven. They continue to bake through during the following half-hour using residual heat. 

However, there are some exceptions to this rule, so make sure to look for some additional timing and look-related cues when determining whether a batch of cookies is done or not.

How To Get Scones To Rise Evenly (Tips and Tricks)

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Even though they’re of humble origins and ingredients, scones are one of the most challenging baked goods to master. These pastries are so simple that they depend on an excellent technique to turn out as light, scrumptious, and crumbly as you expect them to. After all, the whole draw of a scone relies on its texture. 

Here’s how to get scones to rise evenly:

  • Keep your ingredients cold.
  • Use self-rising flour.
  • Double sift the flour.
  • Don’t overwork the dough.
  • Dust your cutter with flour before using it.
  • Never twist the cutter.
  • Chill the dough before baking.
  • Place the scones side by side on the baking tray.
  • Refrain from handling hot scones too much.

In the following sections, you’ll learn more about each of these simple yet highly efficient techniques. As long as you stick by them, I guarantee that when you take your next batch of freshly made scones out of the oven, you’ll notice that the glistening golden brown top will decorate a perfectly risen piece of pastry.

1. Keep Your Ingredients Cold

Let’s get the most important scone-making rule out of the way, which is that butter is non-negotiable. The pastry’s signature flaky, crumbly texture and rich taste depend on the use of cold, good-quality butter. 

Therefore, it’s best to avoid using any type of oil, margarine, or shortening if possible.

However, even the most exceptional butter won’t give you evenly-risen scones if you don’t use it at the right temperature. Butter, along with all other refrigerated ingredients, such as eggs, milk, and cream, should be kept cold until they’re mixed into the dough. 

The aim is to keep the butter as cold as possible until it gets in the oven, which is why you’ll also want any ingredients coming in contact with it to be cooled as well. Otherwise, the scones will turn doughy and saggy instead of airy and flaky.

Using cold butter is the key to getting those beloved air pockets (or layers) that create the signature pastry texture that we know and love. Therefore, not only is it important to keep all ingredients refrigerated right up until you need them, but it might help to chill the mixing bowl and utensils beforehand too.

When it comes to butter itself, the colder, the better. You can even freeze it if the weather is particularly hot and you don’t want to risk your butter melting too soon. 

An excellent technique to use frozen butter in this instance is to grate it beforehand, freeze it, and then add it to the dough. You can even go as far as to laminate your dough just as you would when making croissants, puff pastry, or pain au chocolat, but this isn’t necessary.

2. Use Self-Rising Flour

A mistake I often see home bakers making when making scone dough is using all-purpose flour. 

Granted, this error might not be as damaging to the end product as, say, using room temperature butter, but it still might be the reason why your scones aren’t rising properly. 

Alternatively, you can opt for a combination of AP and self-rising to get that perfect, fluffy, airy texture you’re looking for. Different types of flours have different compositions, and as a result, the variety you choose will affect the density or lightness of the end product.

For example, all-purpose flour has a higher protein content than its self-rising counterpart. As a result, scones made using the former will be notably denser than those made using the latter or a mix of the two.

It’s also essential to note the importance of checking the “Consume By” date on your self-rising flour beforehand. This type of flour generally includes a leavening agent, such as baking powder, that can lose its efficiency as time goes by.

3. Double Sift the Flour

Double sifting the flour is another excellent way to combat your scones not rising evenly. When putting your flour through a fine mesh sift, you’ll be able to break any lumps or prevent any small impurities or debris from making their way into the dough. 

Therefore, not only will you be able to measure your ingredient much more accurately, which results in a better overall butter-to-flour ratio, but you’ll also help your pastry rise more evenly in two ways.

First, big lumps or impurities can mess with the consistency of the dough and lead to an uneven bake.

Secondly, unsifted flour takes much longer to knead into a dough, as you need to break down any lumps along the way. As you’ll see in the following section, overworking the dough can significantly hinder the quality of your scones.

4. Don’t Overwork the Dough

This is a mistake all novice bakers make at one point or another. After all, it’s natural to want our dough to look as smooth and uniform as possible. One of the biggest mistakes you can make when it comes to baking perfectly-risen scones is overworking the dough.

Doing this leads to increased gluten activation, leading to a bread-like chew consistency instead of the flaky, tender texture you’re looking for.

You’ll want to knead your dough just until it comes together. Lumps are okay too, and as long as there’s no visible separation between the ingredients, your batter is ready to be cut, chilled, and baked.

5. Dust Your Cutter With Flour Before Using It

Now that your dough has come together, it’s time to roll it out and cut it. However, be aware that at this point, the texture will still be lumpy and sticky, which is why you’ll want to keep a bowl of flour nearby all throughout the process.

Here’s how to cut your dough:

  1. Dust the working surface with flour before rolling out the dough. If necessary, sprinkle some on top of it as well. 
  2. Dust your cutting tool of choice with flour and tap off any excess. You can either use a round cookie cutter that’s big enough or opt for a traditional approach and use the rim of a thin water glass.
  3. Proceed to cut the dough as usual. An unclean cut could severely impact the baking quality of your scones, which is why making sure that any cutting device you use doesn’t stick is of the essence.

6. Never Twist the Cutter

I’m sure you’ll find this advice plastered on any scone recipe you choose to follow. However, it bears repeating, which is to never twist the cutter. Pressing the cutting device firmly into the dough should suffice to separate the shape you want from the rest of the batter.

Twisting the cutter can significantly impair the rise of your scones, even if you’ve done everything right up until this point. Therefore, no matter how instinctual it might seem, refrain from twisting the cutter at all costs.

7. Chill the Dough Before Baking

This is another tip I’ve seen many novice bakers make, as even when they see this step mentioned in a recipe, they believe it’s optional. However, chilling the dough before baking can significantly increase your chances of getting perfectly-risen scones. 

Remember how important it is for the butter to go cold into the oven?

No matter how cold your ingredients or equipment are, kneading the dough, rolling it out, and cutting it, can notably warm up the mixture. This might not be much of an issue if you’re working in an especially cold kitchen. 

However, when making scones in a warmer environment, it’s imperative to chill the cut-out pieces in the fridge for at least half an hour before putting them into the oven.

You can also use this time to preheat the oven if you’ve forgotten to (like I have so many times), so it’s a win-win. Not only does this final chill keep the butter nice and cold, but it also relaxes the activated gluten in the dough, leading to an even lighter and airier texture.

8. Place the Scones Side by Side on the Baking Tray

When placing scones into a baking tray, treat them like cinnamon rolls, not cookies. You’ll want to bundle them close together to encourage them to rise higher instead of spreading out. You want the pieces to be barely touching one another. 

I assure you this type of placement can make a significant impact on the evenness of their rise and overall bake.

9. Refrain From Handling Hot Scones Too Much

Congratulations! You now have a perfectly-risen batch of freshly made scones. The only ingredient you’ll need now is patience. I know it can be tempting to touch and feel the light texture you’ve achieved, but doing so can hinder the results you’ve worked so hard for.

Therefore, take the scones out of the oven and let them cool until they reach room temperature, or at least aren’t hot to the touch. Then, you can start plating them as you wish, such as serving them with a side of homemade jam.

Key Takeaways

Scones can be a challenging pastry to master. Considering their humble list of ingredients, getting that flakey, airy texture just right is crucial when it comes to a mouth-watering batch of scones. Luckily, by following these nine simple tips and tricks, you’ll be able to get evenly-risen scones every time.

Is Scone Dough Supposed To Be Really Sticky?

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Whether served with jam or cream (or both), scones are the perfect treat to have with your afternoon tea because they’re sweet and easy to eat. However, much thought, care, and preparation go into making them to achieve that tasty goodness. It all boils down to making the right dough.

Scone dough is not supposed to be really sticky.  It is made by mixing wheat flour, butter, water, and other ingredients resulting in a moist and sticky mixture. Although scone dough requires a bit of stickiness, too much can make it difficult to get the right shape for your scones.

We will look deeper into what makes your scone dough really sticky, what happens if it is, and how to fix the issue so that you can enjoy good-quality scones. Read on to learn how to make the perfect dough for excellent scones!

Why Your Scone Dough Becomes Really Sticky

Scone dough is unique in that you shouldn’t knead it too much. Taking care not to over-knead the dough helps you to avoid overworking the gluten, which creates a lack of gluten development and makes the dough sticky. Overworking the dough will make your finished product look more like bread than scones. 

The proper mixing of butter, wheat flour, water, and other ingredients and the right kneading process will result in a moist and reasonably sticky dough. It may sound simple, but a lot of things can go wrong if you are new to baking scones.

Here are some reasons why a scone dough may become really sticky:

    • You put in too much water. Too much water can result in a very wet scone dough that looks more like batter. Wheat flour, which is often used for scones, typically requires more water, making it easy for anyone to overestimate the correct amount of water to use.
    • You didn’t knead the dough enough. Scone dough doesn’t require much kneading, but you have to knead it enough to make the ingredients come together. Not kneading the mixture at all can leave you with a dough that is too sticky.
    • You kneaded the mixture with heavy hands. Light-handed kneading for roughly 30 seconds to a minute should be enough to mix the ingredients properly so that the dough can hold its shape. Kneading and spreading the mixture with heavy hands will result in a very sticky dough.
    • You used wholemeal flour or rye flour. Wheat flour is the most common ingredient for scones, but some people may prefer using wholemeal or rye flour. These flours can also make great scones. However, they tend to be more sticky and require you to knead the dough a bit more to reduce that stickiness. It can be tricky, though, since too much kneading can be counterproductive for your scone dough.

If you are looking for flour to use in your next scones recipe, try the King Arthur Measure for Measure Flour (available on Amazon.com). It is gluten-free, making it safe for people who have Celiac disease. It also contains essential nutrients like vitamin B, iron, and calcium.

What Happens if Scone Dough Is Really Sticky?

Ideally, scone dough should be wet and sticky. It means that you mixed the ingredients well enough to come together but not so much that you see a smooth outer layer. Such appearance means you worked it so much that the gluten network formed, and you are likely to end up with bread instead of scones.

Some people worry that they might over-knead their scone dough, and they settle for one that is a bit too sticky. The main challenge is determining if your scone dough has the right level of stickiness.

If the scone dough is really sticky, it can stick to your fingers or the table and will be pretty challenging to cut through. It will also be difficult for the dough to retain its shape.

That said, you’d know that your scone dough is sticky enough if it does not stick like glue to your fingers, the cutting board, or the knife when you cut through it.

What To Do if the Scone Dough Is Really Sticky

Now that you know how to tell whether or not your dough has the right amount of stickiness, you may wonder how to deal with a scone dough that is too sticky for your liking.

Below are some things you can do if your scone dough is really sticky.

Knead the Scone Dough Light-Handedly

Luckily, scone dough is made by initially mixing flour and butter before adding water. The butter can help prevent or delay gluten development. This mechanism makes it less likely to over-knead your scone dough.

Nonetheless, be sure to knead the dough light-handedly. As discussed, heavy-handed kneading can result in a very sticky scone dough.

Add Some Flour

If your scone dough sticks too much to your fingers or the kneading table, you may need to put some flour on your hands before kneading the dough again. 

Always remember to knead the dough lightly and stop when all the ingredients have already come together, forming a moist, sticky lump that can hold its shape as you spread it before cutting.

What To Do if the Scone Dough Is Not Sticky Enough

If you are new to baking scones, it can be easy to overdo the kneading process, resulting in a smooth mass of dough. If that happens, it may be almost impossible to undo the damage and still hope to make the perfect scones.

However, your scone dough may not be sticky enough due to adding too much flour while mending the excessive stickiness. If this happens, you can make it sticky again by adding buttermilk. The amount of buttermilk necessary will depend on how dry your dough has become. Add the liquid gradually as you mix your dough until it becomes sticky enough.

Final Thoughts

Scone dough has to be moist and sticky to rise properly during baking. Even if you know the basics or follow a tested-and-proven recipe from an expert baker, it is still easy to make mistakes. Therefore, theoretical knowledge just won’t cut it. 

It can be pretty challenging to determine the right proportion of ingredients and the proper kneading techniques to achieve the correct level of stickiness in your scone dough, but practice makes perfect.