Bake Your Cookies With a Pan of Water to Ensure They’re Always Moist

Raise your hand if you want to know how to make cookies moist. (We’ve got ours up in the air!) There’s nothing like biting into a ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookie straight from the oven — and achieving perfection every time is easier than you think. All you need is a pan of water.

The secret to making cookies moist is to create a water bath. This means simply adding a pan of hot water to your oven while baking. Water baths are necessary when cooking foods like custards and cheesecakes, as it prevents custards from getting rubbery and cheesecakes from cracking. A water bath is also a slower, more even heat source.

You only need a small amount of water, just enough to cover the pan. The only downside to cooking with a water bath is that it’ll take a little bit longer for your foods to bake all the way through — but the end results will be so worth it. We recommend trying this method with other foods, like biscuits and muffins. 

Because water baths affect the internal temperature of the oven, we understand if you don’t want to wait around for your foods to cook — especially if you have a lot of cookies to bake. An alternative to using a sheet pan covered in water would be to periodically spritz the inside of your oven with a spray bottle of water to keep your foods moist. Frequently opening the oven door will allow heat to escape, so it may be easier to make a water bath in the end. 

Now that you know how to bake cookies like a pro, you can impress your friends and families with a homemade batch. They’ll be begging for the recipe after the first bite (but we’re OK with you keeping this your little secret)!

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