Baking Cookies

Given the high oven temperature and the common use of ingredients that scorch easily like sugar and nuts, achieving a batch of even-sized, perfectly browned cookies requires more skill than one might think. Always allow 10-15 minutes for the oven to reach the correct temperature before baking cookies. In general, the best position for the baking sheet is on a shelf in the center of the oven, although this depends to some extent on where the source of heat is and whether it is evenly distributed, as in a convection oven. The main thing is to make sure the heat can circulate freely around the edges of the sheet. If the dough browns too much on the bottom, the use of two baking sheets, one on top of the other, may help. Baking two shelves of cookies at once is inadvisable: bake one sheet in the oven while you prepare another and transfer a third to a rack to cool.