Learn how to fix underbaked cookies (it happens to everyone)! If you’ve found yourself with less-than-perfectly baked cookies, this post is for you. This method works for einkorn chocolate chip cookies, sourdough molasses cookies, sourdough peanut butter blossoms, or your other favorites.
A Quick Look: Fixing Underbaked Cookies
- Ready In: 2 to 5 minutes (rebake time)
- Best For: Slightly underbaked cookies, cooled or uncooled
- Recipe: This method works for any cookie recipe
- Why You’ll Love It: Whether you are a baking newbie or an experienced baker, underbaked cookies happen from time to time. Learning how to fix underbaked cookies ensures that a slightly underdone batch does not turn into wasted time, ingredients, and effort.
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Cookies can be a little tricky sometimes. Not because the dough is hard to make, but because it can be tough to tell when they are perfectly baked.
We’ve all been there: pulling a tray of cookies out of the oven, only to find they aren’t quite done. But luckily, underdone cookies can be salvaged through a process called twice-baking.
Whether you are making a sourdough skillet cookie, sourdough lavender cookies, a classic sugar cookie, or anything in between, with these tips, you can save your underbaked cookies!
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How Cookies End Up Underbaked
Not Enough Time in the Oven: Cookies are often underbaked simply because they were not in the oven long enough, and baking time can vary based on oven temperature, baking sheet type, batch size, cookie size, and the type of cookie.
Tray Placement: If you are baking a few sheets of cookies, the tray on the lower racks may not bake as quickly as the trays above it.
Oven Hot Spots: If your oven is like mine, hot spots cause the cookies in the back to bake faster than the ones in the front.
Large Batch Size: Overcrowding may cause spreading and uneven baking because the cookies share the heat with too many others. When I make einkorn chocolate chip cookies, for example, I use larger scoops, so I put fewer on the sheet.
Wrong Oven Temperature: Most cookie recipes bake at 350° to 375°F, so if yours are underbaked, first confirm the oven is set correctly and use an oven thermometer to check the temperature.
How To Tell When a Cookie Is Underbaked
Color: The best way to assess cookie doneness is by checking the color. Underbaked cookies are pale. Of course, you don’t want cookies that are too brown, but fully baked cookies are golden brown.
Edges: Underbaked cookies will also have pale edges.
Center: An underbaked cookie will have an overly soft center and won’t be set in the middle.
Texture: An underbaked cookie will have a doughy texture, whereas a finished cookie will have a soft but firm texture. Some recipes, like sourdough peanut butter blossoms, need a soft center, so be sure to follow the recipe instructions.
Shine: If your cookies are shiny in the middle, that is a sign they are underbaked.
Flat: Underbaked cookies deflate as they cool. So flat cookies are a sign that they weren’t in the oven long enough.
How To Fix Underbaked Cookies
Step 1: If the cookies are still warm, keep them on the baking sheet or gently transfer them back to a baking sheet if you moved them to a cooling rack.
Step 2: Preheat the oven to the temperature the recipe calls for.
Bake the cookies for a few more minutes until they are done. I usually check them every minute.
Keep an eye on them, or use a kitchen timer. Cookies go from underbaked to overbaked really quickly.
Step 3: If the cookies have cooled, preheat the oven to 300° F and transfer them to a baking sheet.
Bake the cookies for a few more minutes until they are done. I usually check them every minute.
Tips for Success
- You will still have soft cookies if they don’t cool too much before going back in the oven. If they have cooled significantly, they may be crunchier, but still delicious!
- If rebaking cooled cookies, lower the oven to 300°F to finish the centers and reduce moisture without overbrowning the edges.
- Depending on how cool the cookies were before the second bake, the second bake might change their texture, but they will still be totally edible.
- Always let your oven preheat completely before baking so the cookies start cooking at the correct temperature.
- During the initial bake, turn the baking sheet halfway through baking for more even heat distribution.
How To Fix Underbaked Cookies FAQs
No, you only need to rebake the cookies that aren’t done.
If you have some cookies that are done, set them aside to cool. Then, place the underbaked ones back in the oven.
It depends on how much the cookies cooled before rebaking. If you return them to the oven while they are still warm, they are unlikely to dry out, but fully cooled cookies may become drier when baked again.
Now, in full disclosure, I’ve probably eaten my weight in raw cookie dough over my lifetime. But technically, eating underbaked or raw dough isn’t safe. Most underbaked cookies also have an unsavory texture, so you are better off baking them for a few more minutes.
Start with 2 minutes and check them. If they still aren’t done, check them every minute until they are baked.
Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
If you tried this fixing underbaked cookies or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
How To Fix Underbaked Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- a batch of underbaked cookies
Instructions
If Your Cookies Are Still Warm
- Keep them on the baking sheet or gently transfer them back to a baking sheet if you moved them to a cooling rack.a batch of underbaked cookies
- Preheat the oven to the temperature the recipe calls for.
- Bake the cookies for a few more minutes until they are done. I usually check them every minute.
- Keep an eye on them, or use a kitchen timer. Cookies go from underbaked to overbaked really quickly.
If Your Cookies Have Cooled Off
- Preheat the oven to 300° F and transfer the cookies to a baking sheet. This temperature might be lower than what the recipe calls for, but at this point, the goal is to bake the center and reduce the moisture in the cookie without burning the edges.
- Bake the cookies for a few more minutes until they are done. I usually check them every minute.
- If they have been cooled and rebaked, the texture of the cookies might change. However, they will still be delicious!
Notes
- See your original recipe for nutrition information.
- You will still have soft cookies if they don’t cool too much before going back in the oven. If they have cooled significantly, they may be crunchier, but still delicious!
- If rebaking cooled cookies, lower the oven to 300°F to finish the centers and reduce moisture without overbrowning the edges.
- Depending on how cool the cookies were before the second bake, the second bake might change their texture, but they will still be totally edible.
- Always let your oven preheat completely before baking so the cookies start cooking at the correct temperature.
- During the initial bake, turn the baking sheet halfway through baking for more even heat distribution.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is auto-calculated and may not reflect your final product. Please verify independently if needed.
This is such a handy trick to have in your back pocket. Even after decades of baking experience, I still underbake my cookies once in a while. But it’s no big deal with this fix!