7 Baking Tips to Make Biscuits Flaky Every Time

Baking a perfect cookie is like reaching the pinnacle of your baking career. Once you find the perfect recipe and method for making those cookies, you are set forever.

However, it can be difficult to reach that point of perfection. I know from personal experience that you always end up making burnt cookies, apartment cookies, cookies that are too crispy, and cookies that just do not taste right. A flaky cookie that comes out of the oven still hot is one of life's great food pleasures. These tips and tricks will help you bake the perfect cookies faster. Once you have successfully baked them, there's no stopping you - you'll be a perfect cookie machine!

Tip 1.

Start with cold butter. Measure the butter right out of the fridge when it's good and cold, cut it into chunks, and work it into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. It's good to have pea-sized pieces left over.

Tip 2. 

When you add the liquid to the flour and butter mixture, stir gently until almost incorporated. Be careful not to over-mix the dough so it does not get too loose.

Tip 3. 

After scraping the shaggy dough and some unincorporated flour from the bowl onto the work surface, work the dough together with a light hand. I try not to knead it more than 10-12 times.

Tip 4. 

Press the dough lightly when you pat it out or roll it out.

Tip 5. 

When cutting the dough, push the cookie cutter straight through and be careful not to twist it.

Tip 6. 

If you have time, place the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for an hour and then directly into the preheated oven.

Tip 7. 

Add one egg at a time. Many cookie and cake recipes will ask you to add the eggs to the buttercream one at a time. Do not skip this important step! There is a very good reason why you should add the eggs to the batter slowly, and that is to prevent the batter from breaking. Yes, you can break your batter. Cookie dough is an emulsion, especially at the stage where you add the runny eggs to the greasy butter.

In order for an emulsion to form, the eggs and butter must become friends and combine. If they do not, the nice creamy butter you made will collapse and all that nice air you whipped into the butter will disappear. If you go slow, add just one egg and let it mix into the batter, then add another egg and let that mix in too, and you'll get a nice smooth cookie dough. Your emulsion will be made and the air bubbles will be trapped in the dough (remember, you need those bubbles for thick, chewy cookies!) Do not rush One egg at a time to win!