Tips for home cookie bakers from Lily's Cookies:
1. For best flavor always use quality ingredients (good quality Pure Vanilla Extract, fresh sweet butter and quality flour)
2. All cookies baked on the same sheet should be similar size and thickness so they will all bake evenly in the correct amount of time.
3. Leave enough room on the sheet between cookies for them to spread.
4. Use royal icing or buttercream icing, colored sugars, nonpareils, sprinkles, dried fruit, melted chocolate, candy etc. to make your cookies stand out. Be creative and make the cookies unique and fun artistic expressions.
5. Make the cookies in stages. Make the dough a day ahead of time, wrap in plastic wrap and chill overnight. It will be easier to work with the next day. Take the dough out about 20 minutes prior to rolling out cookies so the dough can get a little softer and easier to use.
6. Use a good quality aluminum baking sheet that is about 2 inches narrower and shorter than your oven (if possible). Make sure sheet is cool before baking cookies.
7. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes after removing them from the oven. Let cool completely on a rack before decorating.
8. Roll the dough thin (approximately 1/8") if you want the crisp cookies and thicker (1/4") if you want softer, more cake-like cookies.
9. Preheat oven at least 15 minutes prior to baking.
10. Watch the cookies closely; they should take between 8 to 15 minutes to bake.