Baking is arguably a rewarding hobby but not many people meet the cut. But why? Well, it involves a delicate process of balancing the measurements. Anyone who has tried their hand in baking can tell you that they almost gave up on their first trial.
However, with continuous practice amidst the errors, you will surely come out on top. But to practice effectively, you need to be knowledgeable about the errors to expect and the solutions to fix them. In this post, you will learn how to fix sticky cookie dough and the causes of sticky dough.
How to Fix Sticky Cookie Dough
There are various remedies for fixing sticky cookie dough. However, you ought to understand the cause of the dough becoming sticky so that you can find a concrete solution. Below is a detailed list of solutions to help you
1. Use cold dough
Temperature is arguably the key cause of your dough becoming sticky. The high temperature can be caused by a number of reasons. Firstly, you might be using warm ingredients. Using warm ingredients causes the dough to expand hence it easily sticks to any surface. Before you start preparing your dough, ensure the ingredients are chilled. If you like, you can also chill the mixing bowl and flour.
In case you have already mixed the dough and you find it sticky, consider chilling it in the refrigerator. The cold air enables the dough to relax hence making it non-sticky. Apart from the ingredients causing the dough to become hot, you could actually be the cause of the problem. Overworking dough can cause it to become sticky. Once you work on dough for a long time, your body temperature will be transferred to the dough thus making it sticky. The perfect remedy is to ensure you handle the cookie dough gently.
2. Avoid using excess ingredients
Eggs and butter are an essential ingredient in preparing your cookie dough. Most recipes recommend that you use these ingredients in large quantities. Nonetheless, using too much eggs and butter can lead to your cookie dough becoming sticky. To ensure your ingredients do not mess up your dough, ensure you strike a balance between the ingredients against the number of cookies you want to make.
Unfortunately, striking the perfect balance can prove to be daunting. In most instances, you might find that you have used excess butter and eggs. So, how do you fix this? Simple, cool the dough. Place the dough in the refrigerator and allow it to sit for some time. If the cookie dough has lots of butter, then the cooling process won’t last long since butter solidifies quickly. To make the cookie dough easy to work with, consider rolling the dough on parchment paper before placing in the refrigerator. Chilling the dough calls for a little patience.
3. Add more flour
This is arguably the most common trick used by most bakers. If you use less flour compared to other ingredients like eggs and butter, then the result will be sticky dough. As you prepare your dough, ensure that you use enough flour. Flour is responsible for making your cookies fluffy and giving them texture.
Once you notice that your dough is becoming sticky and difficult to handle, consider adding more flour to the dough. More to that, make sure you dust your working surface with flour to ensure the dough does not stick to the surface. Besides that, dusting your surface with flour allows you to mold the cookie dough with ease.
4. Add powdered milk
Powdered milk is a great idea for fixing sticky cookie dough. Powdered milk will come in handy if you are looking to substitute flour. The only difference is that your cookies will taste a little bit creamy. Once you have added enough powdered milk, ensure that you chill the dough. This will ensure easy absorption hence reducing the sticky nature of the dough.
What causes cookie dough to become sticky?
Dough is an integral asset when baking cookies. In fact, the quality of your cookies will be determined by the way you handle the dough. The stickiness of the dough is usually influenced by its temperature. Sticky dough is difficult to use as it tends to stick on any surface and you cannot mold it into the shapes you desire.
In addition, using excess ingredients can contribute towards your dough becoming sticky. If you go ahead and use the sticky dough, you can rest assured that the end product will not be as fancy as you may have imagined. Using sticky dough will result in crispy and greasy cookies. Furthermore, the cookies will come out flat and with an unappealing brown color. So, how do you fix sticky cookie dough?
Final Thoughts
Temperature plays a key role in determining the ease of handling of your cookie dough. Once you learn the nitty gritty aspects of making fine non-sticky dough, you certainly will be a top-notch baker. But before you hit those pinnacles, you need to understand the cause of sticky dough and how to fix them.
Most solutions on how to fix sticky cookie dough require you to chill the dough to make it less sticky. However, you need to be careful not to allow the dough to chill for too long. This will make the dough difficult to handle and you may be forced to warm it before chilling it again. This translates into wasted time and missed deadlines.
The trick to ensure your dough remains cold throughout the preparation process is to use cold ingredients. Consider using chilled butter and ice-cold water during preparation. This way, you can maintain a standard temperature until the cookies are ready for baking.
Additionally, avoid overworking the dough to prevent your body temperature from heating the ingredients. On that note, if you were wondering what it takes to fix sticky cookie dough, now you know better. The best part is that you also know how to prevent the dough from becoming sticky.
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