By JENNIFER MATHEWS
Ina Garten's Pre-Portioned Cookie Dough Depends On One Kitchen Tool
Most cookies are simple to make, but evenly portioning the dough is critical to ensure that the treats bake evenly, avoiding either undercooked or burnt cookies.
Cookie recipes either suggest using a scale to measure grams of cookie dough, or vaguely ask bakers to portion out spoonfuls of dough, leaving room for inconsistencies.
Knowing that not everyone has a kitchen scale, celebrity chef Ina Garten suggests using a standard 2 ¼" ice cream scoop to portion your cookies onto your baking pan.
Garten uses the type of ice cream scoop with a spring-loaded sweeper bar, not the one-piece oval models. For consistent portions, start by filling the scoop's bowl with the dough.
Scrape excess dough from the scoop with the bowl's lip. Press the release on the scoop to dollop the spoonfuls on the cookie sheet, giving each cookie enough space between them.
A standard half-sheet pan or cookie sheet shouldn’t have more than six cookies when using a 2 ¼" scoop, though this can vary depending on your recipe and the dough's consistency.