Oatmeal Lace Cookies Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my homemade oatmeal cookies hard? ›

There are a few reasons why your oatmeal cookies may be too hard. Perhaps you left them in the oven a couple of minutes too long. To rectify this, simply bake the next batch for less time. Another reason could be the density of the dough.

Flour adds fluff and texture to the cookies. Adding too little flour can cause cookies to be flat, greasy, and crispy. Most recipes assume you'll use all-purpose, but if you want a lighter, crumblier cookie texture, choose one with a lower protein content such as cake-and-pastry flour.

Common Reason for Dry Cookie Dough #1: Too Much Flour

If you've found a cookie dough recipe you love but can't achieve perfect cookies, the issue may be how you're measuring your flour. A cup of flour measured with a measuring cup can actually contain varying amounts of flour, leading to a cookie that's too dry.

OVEN IS TOO HOT

If your cookies consistently come out flat, you may have selected the wrong baking temperature. If you bake cookies using too much heat, the fats in the dough begin to melt before the other ingredients can cook together and form your cookie's rise.

Light corn syrup is another ingredient that you can add to cookie dough that will help it stay softer longer. The corn syrup you buy at the grocery store is not the high-fructose corn syrup that soft drinks are made with; it's a sugar that is liquid at room temperature and helps other sugars say liquid at high heat.

Baking powder

Baking powder contains sodium bicarbonate and acidic salts. The reaction of these two ingredients results in a cookie that is soft and thick, but slightly harder.

Baking soda is typically used for chewy cookies, while baking powder is generally used for light and airy cookies. Since baking powder is comprised of a number of ingredients (baking soda, cream of tartar, cornstarch, etc.), using it instead of pure baking soda will affect the taste of your cookies.

A low proportion of sugar relative to flour reduces spread, keeping the cookies thick. A high proportion of mix-ins helps thicken the dough.

Too much butter makes cookies turn out just as you'd expect: very buttery. This batch of cookies was cakey in the middle, but also airy throughout, with crispy edges. They were yellow and slightly puffy in the middle, and brown and super thin around the perimeter.

Dry – “Dry” or “Crumbly” dough is a product of over-mixing or using too much of any ingredient during the mixing process. This can be reversed by adding one to two tablespoons of liquid (water, milk or softened butter) to your mix.

Can I use instant oatmeal instead of rolled oats? ›

In addition to be heated for a warm breakfast bowl, rolled oats are commonly used in granola bars, cookies, muffins, and other baked goods. Instant oats can be used in place of rolled oats, although the cook time will be much less, and the final dish will not have as much texture.

Generally speaking, you should chill your cookie dough before baking it. But for how long? You want to give it at least 2 hours to chill through.

Quaker® Old Fashioned Oats are whole oats that are rolled to flatten them. Quaker® Steel Cut Oats are whole oats that have not been rolled into flakes. Instead, they are cut approximately into thirds. Quick Quaker® Oats are simply cut into slightly smaller pieces so they cook faster.

Old fashioned oats give baked goods more texture but take longer to cook, which is why some recipes call specifically for quick oats. Quick cook oats are processed more, so they don't have to cook as long. In many cases, you can use the two interchangeably.

How Long Should I Chill Cookie Dough? Anywhere from 24 to 72 hours. The longer you chill the dough, the more flavor will develop. The flour will also absorb more of the moisture so the thicker and chewier the final texture will be.

There are a few common methods for softening cookies, including microwaving them, heating them in the oven, and placing them in an airtight container with a slice of bread.

Over-baked cookies will be dry, hard, and crumbly. Secondly, always store your cookies in an air-tight container. They should stay soft for up to 3 days. If they aren't as soft as you'd like, just add a slice of white bread to the container and they should soften right up.

According to The Kitchn, this occurs when you over-mix the dough. Mixing the dough naturally causes gluten to develop in the flour, and while you do need a good amount of gluten to give your cookies structure, too much of it will result in hard cookies.

the more you mix cookie dough. the more the gluten develops and they become hard and dry and an unfavorable texture.