Easy guide to baking: Biscuits and cookies

The dos and the don'ts of baking biscuits and cookies

1. How much fat? Too much and your biscuits will be softer (which actually doesn't matter!), but too little and they'll come out dry and heavy.

2. What sort of flour? If you can find cake flour, use that as it makes the biscuits nice and light. Avoid bread flour and also self-raising as it just makes the biscuit taste salty and odd - trust us, we've made that mistake!

3. Keep your biscuits cosy. When you put the biscuits on the baking tray, place them about an inch apart. Any further and they spread too much; any closer and they won't cook in the middle.

4. Fat again. It all gets a bit scientific, but basically, if the fat is cold, it helps the biscuits to cook and rise better once they're in the oven. So never let your fat melt or get too hot when making your biscuits.

We've got lots of delicious biscuit and cookie recipes on goodtoknow, so why not find your favourite?

Tips for leftovers
The cake is calling you, but you know you really shouldn't have another slice! So what can you do to stop yourself? Why not freeze it? There are lots of ways you're supposed to freeze different baked goods e.g. layered cakes should be stored separately and biscuits can be frozen before or after baking. And remember that fatless sponges should never be frozen.

When should I experiment and what with?
It's a good idea to do a 'control' version of the cake so follow the recipe to the letter and see how it comes out. Then you try out your own version of it the next time!

Where to next?
Back to the start of this feature
Quick tips for cake-making
Get baking with these cake recipes