Soft Pumpkin Sugar Cookies Recipe - Top Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep decorated sugar cookies soft? ›

Choose to store them at room temperature or in the freezer instead of the fridge. If you can store your cookies at room temperature or in the freezer - do it. The fridge should be your last resort because of the moisture that can make your cookies soggy. Store the cookies in an airtight container.

If you add too much flour, your cookies won't spread at all and won't be soft or chewy. Baking powder – This gives the sugar cookies lift, without adding too much spread or browning.

Slightly underbaking cookies with brown sugar in them makes them softer as well. Just make sure to store brown sugar in an airtight environment so it doesn't dry out. Flour plays its part by contributing protein. The lower the protein, the softer your cookies will be.

Eggs, particularly egg yolks. Eggs work to make your cookies soft in two ways: They add a ton of moisture, and the proteins add structure that prevents spreading. Cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. Low in protein and high in moisture, cake flour is used to leaven all sorts of baked goods.

When added to dough, baking soda releases a carbon dioxide gas which helps leaven the dough, creating a soft, fluffy cookie.

Over-working the dough yields a tough cookie, which is not at all what you want. The very best sugar cookies are soft and tender. → Follow this tip: One of the keys to great sugar cookies is mixing the dry ingredients only until they're just incorporated, and not a second longer.

Be careful not to overdo it, as the cookies can become too soft or lose their texture. How to Soften Cookies in the Oven: Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C). Wrap the stale cookies in aluminum foil and place them on a baking sheet. Heat them in the oven for about 5-10 minutes.

Bake your cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet for 8-12 minutes depending on the thickness of your cookie. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Cool completely before icing. *If your meringue powder does not have any vanilla flavor in it, you can add a teaspoon of CLEAR vanilla.

Benefits of Butter

This is what gives you a cookie with just the right amount of crispness and richness. It's packed full of natural flavor (as opposed to shortening, which has no flavor)--which is key for things like sugar cookies and shortbread. Butter also gives cookies that “melt-in-your-mouth” texture we all love.

Refrigerating the dough allows the flour to fully hydrate and helps to make the cookie dough firmer. Firm dough prevents the cookies from spreading too much, which is why chilling the dough is a crucial step for cut-out and rolled cookies.

What does extra brown sugar do to cookies? ›

Brown sugar, on the other hand, contains more moisture and is slightly acidic, so cookies made with mostly brown sugar will be chewier and rise higher (because the baking soda reacts to the acid in the sugar).

Brown sugar adds a beautiful color as well as a more complex flavor. They'll also make cookies chewier, softer, and thicker than white sugar. Adding too much can result in dark brown cookies. Adding too little results in paler cookies.

Cookies begin losing moisture through evaporation from the moment that they come out of the oven. So it's totally normal for them to harden up a bit. Yet, this is why you need to store them in an airtight container once they completely cool or they will continue to lose moisture.

Try using baking powder instead of baking soda. Baking soda encourages spreading while baking powder puffs the cookies up. If your recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of baking soda, you would use 3 to 4 teaspoons of baking powder.

There are a few things you can do to add liquid to your cookie dough if it is too dry and crumbly. One option is to add milk, water, or another liquid until the dough is the right consistency. You can also try adding melted butter or shortening. If your dough is still too dry, you may need to add more flour.