Duff Goldman Shares His Secrets For Baking The Best Cookies—And Surviving The Holidays
When I think of the holidays, two things come to mind: cookies and stress.
"The holidays are about coming together, but it’s never quite that simple," said Chef Duff Goldman from Charm City Cakes. "In addition to putting aside differences and getting everyone together, the holidays are about delicious, soft, gooey cookies, and we all know that the biggest cookie debate of all time is the oatmeal raisin versus chocolate chip battle."
This year, in an effort to encourage goodwill, Goldman created the Truce Cookie—half oatmeal raisin, half chocolate chip.
"So, no matter how polarizing the opinions are around the dinner table, you’ll at least have one thing to agree on with the Truce Cookie," he said.
His secret for dealing with holiday party stress? Making food that everyone will enjoy. "The only thing worse than a disagreement is having one while hungry," he said.
Here are Goldman's three tips for baking the best holiday cookies ever.
Pre-Making The Dough
"When I'm entertaining, dessert is always the thing my guests look most forward to and cookies are always on the menu," he said. As a shortcut, Goldman makes his cookie dough ahead of time.
"As early as October, I’ll get my dough prepared, roll it out into sheets, and freeze it," he said. "Then, whenever you’re ready for delicious cookies, you don’t have to worry about so much prep."
When the holidays roll around, all you have to do is defrost the sheets and form the cookies before baking.
Baking Cookies That Are Just Right
Like all baked goods, cookies can be finicky when it comes to bake time. "If you under-bake them, you’ll end up with a doughy mess. If you over bake them, you're crunching on granola bars," said Goldman. "I like to take them out of the oven as soon as they start to develop some color. Then you end up with perfect gooey-in-the-middle cookies."
Perfecting The Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
"Oatmeal raisin cookies get a bad rep because of the oatmeal," said Goldman. "I like to soak the oatmeal and raisins ahead of time, getting them super moist and plump." He also likes to add toasted nuts.
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