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Super Simple Cookie Baking Shortcuts

Baking secrets from the Pillsbury Test Kitchens

Swirly Tree Cookies

Your friends will ooh and ahh over these cookies that look like they were made by a pro!

Turn up your game with tips from the Pillsbury Test Kitchens.

  1. Chill out.  If you’re slicing Pillsbury® cookie dough, chill it first. And if the dough gets a little sticky as you’re working with it, put it back in the ‘fridge to firm up. 

  2. Slice it nice. Pillsbury® cookie dough is easy to slice when the dough is cold and you use a serrated knife.  Give the roll of dough a little turn after every slice so you don’t end up with a flat side on the dough roll.

  3. Measure.  Measuring is so easy- the kids can help – and it’s (a great way for them to learn fractions, too!)

  4. Crave a flav?  If you want to add chocolate chips, coconut, nuts or other tasty additions to Pillsbury® cookie dough, just break up the roll of cookie dough in a mixing bowl and stir in your add ins.  Baking time doesn’t change.

  5. Use shiny cookie sheets.  Pillsbury® refrigerated cookies brown evenly on shiny aluminum cookie sheets.  Dark finishes cause them to brown too fast, and insulated cookie sheets make it hard to tell when a the cookies are done.

  6. Cut it out. Coat the sides of the dough roll with flour, and sprinkle about ¼ cup of flour on your work surface. Roll dough thin – about 1/8-inch thick.  Dip your cookie cutters in flour, then cut the cookies. Peel away the dough around the shape first, then lift the cookies and bake about 2 inches apart.  (350 degrees for 7 to 9 minutes or until light golden brown.)

  7. Bake it right.  Preheat the oven. It might feel like a waste of time, but this helps cookies bake evenly. Also, place cookie sheets in the center rack of your oven.

  8. Solve the sticking dilemma. If the cookies are sticking to the cookie sheet after you bake them, chances are, you’ve had them out of the oven and they’ve begun to cook. Stick them back into the oven for about a minute, and remove the cookies from the cookie sheet as soon as you remove them from the oven.

  9. Bake one day, decorate another.  When time (or your attention span) is short, do the baking one day, and decorate the next day. Cool the cookies after you bake them, and pop them in a tightly covered container.

  10.   Cut bars right.  Here’s a great secret to getting bars out of the pan.  Line the pan with foil. Shape a piece of foil over the bottom of the outside of the pan. Take it off and fit it to the inside. The foil should extend up the sides of the pan.  When the bars are cool, lift them out carefully using the foil as a handle.  Peel off the foil and cut. (It’s way easier to cut straight lines than when you’re not working against the sides of a pan.)

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