Why are my cookies hard? The two most common mistakes

Read in EnglishYou may not be an expert in baking, but even if you have baked before, sometimes the result leaves you wondering, “What the hell am I doing wrong, and why do my cookies come out hard?”Despite having a very simple recipe, cookies tend to be one of the most complicated foods to make because in the process, we need to find the perfect balance so they don’t come out too thick, too cake-like, or too hard.To know what went wrong with your cookies, it doesn’t matter if they are chocolate chip or banana cookies, you need to pay attention to several things, for example, the consistency of the cookies or the dough before baking them. Thus, among the most common mistakes when making cookies are not adding enough flour or using too much; using a greater amount of eggs or even sugar… And more that we list below:Using baking powder instead of baking sodaMixing all the ingredients at the same time instead of following the instructions step by stepAdding extra eggsCompletely forgetting the eggsPacking the flour (not sifting it) or using too muchNot using enough flourOvermixing the doughUsing too much butterNot using enough butterNot using enough sugarWhy do my cookies come out hard?When you bake cookies and they come out hard, it’s most likely that you have fallen into two of the most common mistakes: you lacked butter or didn’t use enough flour.Some cookies are crispy and have a harder consistency, but others, like chocolate chip or oatmeal, can be soft or crunchy. The secret to achieving a fluffy texture instead of a thin and crunchy texture lies in the moisture.For example, forming the cookies into high mounds instead of flattening them with the palm of your hand and baking them for a minute or two will help retain density and make them softer. To add more moisture to the dough, you can do it in the form of additional butter, egg yolks, or brown sugar; this will make them even softer.To make softer cookies, you can add 2 to 4 tablespoons of softened butter or 1/4 cup of sugar to the dough.When you use too little flour, the cookies come out flat, brown, crispy, fragile, and greasy; also, they cook much faster.The result is hard and fragile cookies, just like using butter that is too soft or slightly melted in the dough can also result in flat cookies. The easy solution is to add more flour to the dough, gradually, until the mixture sticks well to the mixer.Try these small modifications in your cookie recipes because only through trial and error will you find the perfect way to make cookies that don’t come out hard.