Soft Caramel Snickerdoodles Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why do my Snickerdoodle cookies get hard? ›

Snickerdoodles might turn out hard if they are overbaked or if the dough is too dry. Be sure to keep an eye on them as they bake – when the edges are set but the centers are still soft and puffy, they are done. Also, make sure you're not adding too much flour.

Cornstarch helps product soft and thick cookies. Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie. An extra egg yolk increases chewiness. Rolling the cookie dough balls to be tall and lumpy instead of wide and smooth gives the cookies a bakery-style textured thickness.

Generally when baking, cakey texture is from more flour and less sugar. The ratio of fat, sugar and flour is what achieves the texture of the cookie. Also, when you are whipping the eggs in the recipe as well.

Another way to soften cookies is by placing the cookies in an airtight container with a damp paper towel. The paper towel will release moisture and help to soften the cookies without making them too soft or mushy. Another way is to place the cookies in a plastic bag with a slice of apple or a damp tea towel.

Simply lay the bread at the bottom of the container and pile your cookies on top of it, seal the lid, and wait a few hours. The cookies will soak up all the moisture from the bread and by the next morning, they will taste as good as the day they came out of the oven gooey.

You can either replace cream of tartar with baking powder at a 1:1.5 ratio (1 teaspoon cream of tartar : 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder), or you can replace cream of tartar with the combination of baking soda and either lemon juice or vinegar (as with this recipe).

Without cream of tartar, you'll get the same baked good in the end, but the consistency may not be as flawless. If you're worried about your cake coming out too flat or your lemon meringue pie going runny, adding cream of tartar is an effective way to prevent it.

What Does Cream of Tartar Do in Cookies? Cream of tartar makes cookies chewy, as it precludes the sugar in the dough from crystalizing, which would lead to crispiness (ie: the opposite of chewiness).

It's not the egg, all-purpose flour, or even the vanilla extract. The simple, yet oh-so-necessary component is cornstarch. That's right, the flavorless thickening agent used for soups, stews, and curries is also the secret weapon for baked goods that boast a silky-smooth mouthfeel.

Baking cookies quickly in a hot oven – at 375 degrees F as opposed to a lower temperature – will make for soft results. They'll bake fast instead of sitting and drying out in the oven's hot air. Ever so slightly underbaking your cookies will give you softer results than cooking them the full amount the recipe says.

What is the secret to soft chewy cookies? ›

Rest the Dough A secret baker's trick is to rest your cookie dough in the fridge. You can rest it for at least an hour, which will evaporate some of the water and increase the sugar content, helping to keep your baked cookies chewy.

How do you know when the cookies are baked? The snickerdoodle cookies will only take about 10 to 12 minutes to bake, so be sure to keep your eye on them! It's best to rotate the cookies after about 6 minutes so that the cook evenly. The cookies are done when the edges are just set and the centres are soft and cracked.

Refrigerating snickerdoodle dough lets the butter resolidify and prevents the cookies from flattening out in the oven. I recommend giving the dough at least 45-60 minutes of chilling time in the fridge before baking.

If your ratios of flour, butter and sugar off, the cookie might spread too quickly. This can occur if you aren't precise with your measurements. If your recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar, for example, and you add a slightly heaping cup instead of leveling off the cup precisely, you'll end up with too much.

They go from soft to hard because they start to dry out, and it begins as soon as you pull them from the oven. (Yikes.) Whatever moisture is left in the cookies is always in a state of evaporation. At the same time, the sugars and starches are solidifying.

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.

Over-baking is perhaps the most obvious - too long in the oven and your cookies will dry out, so make sure you time it right. Overworking your dough is another common problem, causing excess gluten strands to form, and making your cookie hard and tough. Fat content can be a cause.

If yours aren't cracking, your oven may not be hot enough or your ingredients may not be fresh enough! Are snickerdoodles supposed to be undercooked? I always recommend slightly underbaking your cookies and then letting them finish baking through cooling on the pan.