Step 1

Add some extra butter to the recipe. Consider your sugar to butter amount carefully. If you have more sugar than butter, you will usually have a harder, flatter cookie, but if you have a little extra butter, you will have a softer, more chewy cookie. Even though it's a little more calories to add to your system, they will stay much softer.If you are worried about calories and whatnot, get unsalted butter or put in a little more oil instead.

Step 2

Don't let them burn. If cookies burn, they will start off hard, not just turn hard. Take them out a little after they turn golden brown. If you make them perfectly, you can keep them soft for a while.Make sure they're not raw. Just be sure that you don't leave them in too long. Find the perfect time for you to bake them.

Step 3

Let the cookies sit for a little while. Allow the cookies to cool for about two or three minutes, and after, transport them to a cooling rack for about ten to twenty minutes. By doing this, they can dry quicker and stay fresh. Make sure that they are totally cooled before you put them away.

Step 4

Add some applesauce. If you use applesauce for about one quarter of the amount of oil called for in the recipe, your cookies will stay a bit softer and give your cookies a little fruity taste.

Step 5

Store your cookies correctly. Keep your cookies in an air-tight container and shut it tight. If air gets in because it isn't closed correctly, the cookies are more likely to harden. Put the container in the refrigerator (it will keep them cold; just be sure to let them defrost for a few minutes before eating them), but shut the container correctly before placing it in.

Step 6

Add a slice of bread. This is a classic trick used for many cookies. Adding half a slice of bread to the cookies' container makes them absorb the moisture of the bread and stay fresh and soft. It will become hard in a few days though, so be sure to change it.Apple slices work just as well, but they will continue to rot, so you will have to change them every day. However, if you aren't adding applesauce to it, it will give it a bit of a fruity flavor.