How to Keep Cookies Soft for Days After They Leave the Oven

No one wants stale cookies. Fortunately, amping up your baking and storing game could help you keep cookies soft and just-baked delicious for days after they leave the oven—and even let you preserve your baked goods for months if you opt for freezer storage instead.

Try these pro tips from Pam Weekes, founder of Levain Bakery in New York City, for a little just-baked softness in your cookies that'll last for days.

Tweak your cookie recipe

Start yourself on the right path for a soft cookie by tweaking your cookie recipe to change up the texture a bit. Weekes recommends swapping in cake flour in lieu of all-purpose flour to give you a softer texture. (Cake flour has less protein than standard flour, so it results in a softer, more delicate crumb.) Or you can substitute two egg yolks for every egg in your recipe. Egg yolks have more fat in them than the egg whites, so they will help your eggs have a softer and more moist texture.

The oven's hot, dry air is a common culprit for creating crispier-than-intended cookies—especially if your cookies are overbaked. To help avoid that, try baking the cookies at a slightly higher temperature and a shorter time than the recipe calls for—such as 375 degrees Fahrenheit in lieu of 350 degrees. Even if you stick decide to stick with the recipe's baking temperature, opt to underbake the cookies slightly to help them maintain their moisture.

Seal out the air to seal in the moisture

Air is the enemy of fresh baked goods—and letting them sit out on the counter or in less-than-ideal storage will result in dry and hard cookies. To keep your cookies soft, Weekes recommends opting for an airtight container or for even more insurance against staleness, try wrapping the cookies individually in plastic wrap before storing them in an airtight container or resealable bag.

If you buy cookies from a bakery, take them out of that cardboard bakery box and move them into a better airtight storage as soon as you can to ensure that you can enjoy them for days longer.

Store extra cookies in the freezer, not the fridge

It may seem like a good idea to put leftover cookies in the fridge, but Weekes says that it's generally the worst place to put baked goods. "Do not refrigerate baked items—it just dries them out and makes them harder."

For any cookies that you won't be eating in the next few days, wrap them individually in plastic wrap, and put them in a freezer-safe resealable bag—making sure you remove as much air as possible—for the deep freeze. Well-wrapped cookies can last in the freezer for anywhere from three months to a year, depending on the type of cookie. (More delicate cookies should be enjoyed sooner.)

Try a fix for hard or stale cookies

If your cookies still ended up on the stale side, there are tricks you can use to soften the cookies up again. The most commonly cited trick is to place a soft, fresh piece of sandwich bread in an airtight container with the cookies overnight. Gradually, the cookies will pull the moisture out of the bread, resulting in soft cookies, and a rock hard piece of bread.

If you can't wait for the bread trick to work its magic, you can microwave the cookies you want to eat right now. Wrap the cookies in a dampened paper towel, and microwave for 15 seconds to help soften your cookie.

But if both cookie softening techniques fail, you can still find ways to reuse your cookies. For instance, pop them in the food processor and use the cookie crumbs for a pie crust or swirl them into ice cream.