Hello Friends,

I have been trying to bake cookies for a gift basket for the men at my husband's work. Every recipe I have tried since so far have hardened after cooling the cookies. Am I doing something wrong or does someone have recipes for Oatmeal Raisin, Chocolate chip, and peanut butter cookies that stay soft after cooling? The men at his work like soft chewy cookies not hard ones.

Thanks

Michael Ehard

Here at home we use the oatmeal cookie recipe right off the oatmeal box and just add extra oatmeal... we keep them in a plastic bag... they almost never spread and are always soft... we don't add raisins though...

For the peanut butter we use the one right on the jif container... I haven't ever noticed them getting hard... 

hope that is helpful...

my family is usually not a fan of oatmeal cookies but they request this recipe more than any other. cookies do stay moist after cooling. it's from 'Mom's Big Book of Baking' by Lauren Chattman

1 1/2 Cup Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter MELTED and cooled slightly

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups old fashion oats (NOT INSTANT)

1 cup raisins, dried cranberries, or cherries (or whatever you like)

1 cup of chopped nuts (I add dark chocolate chips instead)

preheat oven to 350

mix flour, soda & salt

cream cooled melted butter & sugars until smooth. add eggs & vanilla stir in flour until combined. Stir in oats, fruit, & chips. place bowl in fridge for about 10 minutes or up to 6 hrs. then scoop and bake for about 8-12 minutes.

Enjoy! 

You maybe baking them too long. I use the have that problem. A few tips:

1) I bake cookies until they are almost done.  About a minute or two less than what is on the recipe. They cook a few minutes on the pan after removing them from the oven.

2) Keep them on the pan until they are just firm enough to move to a cooling rack. About 2-3 minutes after taking them out of the oven.

3) As soon as they are completely cooled move them to an airtight container. 

A

AAll you have to do is add a little more butter. It will add my calories but the cookies will be nice and soft.

Here's an old fashioned tip:  put your cookies in a tightly sealed container and add one slice of fresh bread.  Put a piece of wax paper between the slice of bread and the cookies so that they do not touch.  It will slightly soften the cookies overnight.

ATry a recipe that has honey in it. Honey is a natural preservative and draws moisture to the cookie. I like the recipe from the Mrs. Fields cookie book.

AMy mom burned cookies every time when I was a kid and I took one to school one day, and just slid it in the same bag as my sandwich. That sucker was down right tender when I pulled it out at lunch.

I know this thread is old and the gentleman probably isn't monitoring it anymore, but for anyone else, I suspect the cookies are just over baked. My cookies are soft for days and I don't do anything special, just take them out when they start to get brown. They continue to cook on the sheet once out of the oven, and firm up nicely, but don't harden. I love baking on parchment paper too.

and if you can't wait over night which i am one of those--another idea is to place the cookies on a rack over a skillet of hot water--set it all in the microwave just to let the mild steam do it's thing in the confined space--no need to turn on the microwave--

♥ me some soft cookies

and the bread thing is also good to do if you ship cookies--i cut little breads out with cookie cutters and inform the recipients to feed the birds with 'em

Hi Michael: Just wondered if you ever found the answer to your problem with the gift baskets - I've got a similar dilemma - have the opportunity to make 100 cookies a day ccc, oatmeal, peanut butter etc. but the office leaves them out on plates all day.  With my cookies, they are soft after baking but after about 4 or 5 hours uncovered they lose their softness and I'm trying to figure out how the packaged ones stay soft if you leave them out for 3 days!!  Any help gratefully received. Thanks so much, Valerie