Cookies are one of the most popular sweet treats in the world, and it’s no surprise as to why! When you get a good cookie, it is gooey, soft, and absolutely delicious.
Unfortunately, when it comes to making your own cookies, it can be quite difficult to keep them soft. Sometimes you can follow all the steps right and they will still come out quite hard and this can be a bit of a downer.
But don’t worry! We are here to help! Often, the reason your cookies aren’t soft is because of something you can easily fix in future batches.
Below you will find a list of 8 ways to keep your cookies soft, so you can enjoy them properly!
1. Store Them In An Airtight Container
When you successfully make a batch of soft cookies, you want to keep them soft for as long as possible.
Most people eat all the cookies in one go, especially if there are a few of you eating them, but there are usually leftovers from each batch.
The way you store your cookies can have a massive effect on how long they stay soft, so make sure you store them properly!
Whenever you make a batch of cookies, always store them in an airtight container. This will keep them softer for longer and you won’t have to worry about them going hard straight away.
2. Don’t Overbake The Cookies
This is one of the most common reasons why cookies don’t stay soft. If you overbake them, they will naturally turn hard, so you need to make sure this doesn’t happen!
You should never underbake your cookies, but be very mindful of how long you are keeping your cookies in the oven.
If you keep them in for 15 minutes for example and you find that they are always coming out hard, try and cut that bake time down by a minute or two next time.
Always bake them for the recommended recipe time, but use your initiative and keep a close eye on them to make sure you aren’t overbaking them.
3. Use Brown Sugar
When it comes to making cookies most people will always opt for white sugar over brown sugar. This is fine, but white sugar is a lot drier, which in turn, can make your cookies drier and harder.
Brown sugar on the other hand retains more moisture, which means the finished batch of cookies should be softer and less dry. Just be careful you don’t use too much brown sugar because it is quite moist overall.
4. Paper Towels In The Microwave
If you have already made a batch and you want to try and save them, then you should try the paper towels in the microwave method!
All you need to do for this is wrap your hard cookies up in paper towels and place them in the microwave.
The moisture from the paper towels should absorb into the cookies, which in turn should minimize the dryness and make them a bit softer.
You don’t need to keep them in the microwave for long either- about 10 seconds should do the trick!
5. Store Them With A Piece of White Bread
Here’s another option you can try after you have baked the cookies. If you store your cookies with a piece of soft white bread in an airtight container, it actually keeps your cookies softer for longer!
Apparently, the cookies actually absorb the moisture from the white bread and this keeps them fresh and soft for a few extra days. We aren’t really sure why this is the case, but it’s a pretty good trick to know, isn’t it?
6. Bake At Low Temperatures
When it comes to making cookies, we just want to bake them as fast as possible so we can enjoy them faster.
Because of this, it’s quite common for people to bake them at high temperatures, but really, you should only bake them at low temperatures!
The higher the temperature of the oven, the harder the cookies will be. This is why it is recommended that you bake them at low temperatures instead.
Sure, it might take a bit longer to bake, but the cookies will stay softer for longer and they will taste excellent.
When baking at low temperatures, you ideally want to stick to temperatures between 350° and 325°.
7. Try Using Corn Syrup
You might be raising your eyebrows at this idea, but bear with us! Corn syrup ( not the high fructose kind!) is actually liquid at room temperature and it can really work miracles on your cookies.
If you want to keep them soft, then you should definitely use corn syrup.
All you need to do is add a tablespoon to your cookie recipe and the results will amaze you.
That tablespoon of corn syrup will make your cookies crispy around the edges and nice and soft in the middle. And it will do it for longer as well!
8. Try Not To Overwork The Dough
Cookie dough is a bit like bread dough in the sense that if you overwork it, the finished product won’t come out the way you want it to.
In order to keep your cookie dough soft and gooey, you need to make sure that you are not overworking it.
Just make sure that you mix and roll your dough for only the amount of time required. This should help you avoid overworking it.
Conclusion
Keeping your cookies soft can be a bit of a challenge at first, but once you know how to do it, you will find that it’s actually quite a simple process.
Sometimes it could be something as simple as you left them in too long or you didn’t use enough flour.
Regardless of what it is, you can always rectify this problem with the next batch, so don’t worry if you mess up a few times before you get it right! Use the tips we have provided to help!
