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I love to eat cookies, especially
warm from the oven, but who doesn't? Along with comforting memories, cookies
provide a lot of comfort, period,
especially the aroma that fills the house when they're baking. In fact, it's one
of the many reasons that cookies are Americans' favorite dessert to make. They
are easy to prepare and the payoff is huge; they go along with just about
anything, including just being eaten alone with a tall glass of cold milk.
Cookies come as all
types, shapes,
sizes and flavors, and are generally classified as hard or soft depending upon
the ingredients. Simple ones can be made from a minimum of ingredients
such as flour, beaten egg whites, sugar and flavorings.
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BRIEF
COOKIE HISTORY:
The word cookie comes from the Dutch koekje, meaning "little cake." Most
cookies, however, are much more like sweetened pastry than like cake. |
But, most cookie recipes contain
other ingredients as well, in varying amounts that effect the size, color, and
eating qualities. It's not uncommon to see shortening, liquids, milk and / or
eggs, and for leavening, baking powder, baking soda and beaten egg whites.
Flavorings, chocolate chips, nuts, oatmeal, raisins, etc. can also be added for
flavor, texture and interest.
Cookies are like little sponges -
they absorb moisture from the atmosphere. On a hot, humid day they can turn from
crispy-crunchy to soft and limp within hours. Most cookie recipes will work
perfectly when baked in temperate zones from September through mid-June, no
matter what the weather. (Meringues are the only exception to this rule-they
don't hold up on rainy days.) Fortunately, the cooler months are when we feel
the most compelled to bake.
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Learn All
About How to Have An Old-Fashioned
Cookie Swap |
If you do bake in the sticky heat
of the summer and you'll find your cookies spreading too much or turning soggy,
try adding 1 or 2 extra tablespoons of flour to the recipe -- but, it doesn't
always work. When your cookie dough mixture is dry, add an egg yolk instead of
water. Water makes a dough tough. The fat content of an egg yolk will keep the
dough tender and its emulsifying action will help keep it moist after baking.
No matter what the season be a
watchful baker. Baking times when making cookies can vary, according to the
conditions of your oven. Some brands of butter contain excess water. Even
"large" eggs can vary in size. Don't be afraid to make adjustments in
flavor now and then.
Adapted from
Got Milk? The Cookie Book by Peggy Cullen, Chronicle Books, 2000.
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Basic Cookie Ingredients |
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Have all your ingredients at room temperature, unless specified otherwise.
They'll mix better. |
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The three main
ingredients present in nearly every type of cookie are fat, flour, and
sugar, but you'll see other ingredients in recipes such as
leaveners, eggs, milk, perhaps some chocolate,
coconut, spices or nuts.
As in all other areas of baking, using fresh,
high-quality ingredients is critical to success.
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Flour:
The type of flour determines the structure of the cookie, and
is the main binding agent. Each type of flour has an individual protein
profile suitable almost exclusively for specific uses. All-purpose flour
is generally used in most cookie recipes, but other wheat flour types
are found, as well. The addition or substitution of other flours, such
as bread or cake flour are sometimes added to get different results in a
recipe. For example, bread flour can be used instead of all-purpose
flour; it can absorb much more liquid because of its higher protein
content, more moisture will stay in the cookie and it will be chewier.
Replacing a few tablespoons of all-purpose flour with cake flour will
give you a more tender cookie. However, each cookie recipe is different
and the anticipated results will vary.
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| FYI:
Cake flour is made with soft wheat, so you get less protein (7.5%) in
your flour, less gluten in the mixture, and a very tender, potentially
puffy, cookie. With bread flour, made from hard wheat, you have an
increase in protein (to 12%), an increase in gluten and, therefore, a
chewy cookie. |
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Sweeteners:
Some form of sugar is used in all cookie recipes. It is a
tenderizing agent, adds sweetness and affects the spread of the
cookie. Granulated sugar or brown sugar is used frequently in cookie
making, but honey, molasses, corn syrup and other sugars can be used,
sometimes in combinations. It can be confusing as to which type to use;
when a recipe calls simply for "sugar," it is safe to assume that
granulated table sugar is intended. Powdered or confectioners’ sugar is
referred to as 10X. |
The
type of sugar and how much
you use plays a big role in the outcome of the cookie's taste and
texture, but the recipe plays the biggest role. Most chocolate chip
recipes call for both types of sugar, such as in the
Nestle's Chocolate Chip Cookie
Recipe, to get the best of
both worlds.
 | To prevent cookies from cracking
around the edges when baking, I like to use
superfine sugar.
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| White sugar will make a crisper
cookie than one made with brown sugar, molasses or honey. It
doesn't attract as much moisture from the environment keeping
them crispy. |
| Cookies made with brown sugar
tend to be more soft and chewy. It's because brown sugar
contains molasses which is hygroscopic and absorbs water from
the atmosphere. In fact, upon standing, cookies made from brown
sugar stay chewy. |
| For a chewier cookie, liquid
sweetener, such as honey, corn syrup or molasses is preferred.
These will act as humectants and hold some of the moisture for
longer periods of time than other types of sugar, thus, helping
to maintain softness from one to two days to five or six days,
in some cases even more than that. Just beware: using too much
honey in the recipe can cause the cookies to become really
brown. |
| Cookie spread decreases as sugar particle
size increases. A coarse granulated sugar produces less cookie
spread during baking than powdered sugar.
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Fats:
such as stick butter and margarine, lard and shortening, all
have their place in the cookie world. They coat the flour's
gluten strands, some better
than others and prevent the
cookie from becoming tough when moistened and stirred.
I like to use plain, pure (unsalted) butter because I
find it adds the best flavor to a cookie recipe, but every baker has
their own preference. |
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Shortening
vs. Butter vs. Margarine vs. Oil: |
Each type of fat used in cookie recipes separately
affects the cookie's texture and taste.
Generally, the use of butter means a
flatter, crispier cookies because it allows the dough to spread as it
cooks on the hot cookie sheet.
Cookies made with shortening
will not spread, however all shortening will give you a cookie without
a lot of taste. This approach gives you
the best of both worlds: shortening is not as sensitive to shifts in
temperature and the butter gives a lot of flavor.
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Shortening: Least spread
/ Least flavor,
however can use butter
flavored. Because of its higher melting point (98 to 100 degrees F)
than butter, cookies keep their shape as it bakes, yielding a
puffier more cake-like treat. |
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Stick Butter: Medium spread / Best
flavor. Because of the lower the
melting point of butter (92 to 98 degrees F) than shortening,
cookies spread and become flatter and crispier as the result. To
help reduce cookie spread when using butter, freeze the formed dough
on the cookie sheets. When
you place the frozen cookie dough immediately
in
the oven, the fat will stay colder longer and when baked, the cookie
will retain its shape better. For flavor, there is no substitute for
butter. Cookies made with butter have outstanding taste and a finely
grained, often crisp texture. Butter also helps cookies to keep well
and maintain their flavor. I recommend using unsalted butter in
baking. |
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Stick Margarine: Most
spread / Some flavor |
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Vegetable oils:
cookies are softer than those
made with butter or margarine. |
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Eggs:
Use only fresh eggs, of course, and at room temperature. If
the recipe is simply written with the word "eggs", use large which have
a volume of about 1/4 cup each. The liquid from the egg forms steam and
gets trapped in the cookie, puffing it up. In addition, they emulsify
the dough, bringing the water and fat phases together in a recipe for a
creamier, smoother texture. On the other hand, egg whites have a drying
effect and but also contribute to the structure or shape of a cookie.
Liquids:
Liquids are essential to cookie recipes. When wheat flour is
moistened and stirred,
gluten is formed from the proteins
present. Gluten strands form the structure of the cookie, but they
also have a toughening effect. Fats, such as stick butter and
shortening, shorten the strands, and give you a more tender cookie. If
you add too much liquid, like milk or water, your cookie dough is going
to be like a very thick pancake batter which won't bake like a cookie.
Leaveners:
Baking soda and baking powder are the classic leaveners in
cookie recipes, but beaten egg whites are also used. Used together and
separately, these components affect the puffiness to some degree (baking
powder), but they also affect the color of the cookie (baking soda).
Flavorings:
Cocoa, nuts, extracts, and other flavorings, all contribute to the
character and taste of a cookie. I recommend using only pure vanilla
extract, never imitation, even though you can buy quarts of the
imitation stuff for the price of one good bottle of pure vanilla -- it
keeps forever in a dark and cool storage cabinet. The taste of imitation
vanilla is immediately detected, and is exaggerated if the dough or
cookies are frozen. Use them discriminatingly but courageously. A touch
of almond extract in a plain sugar-cookie recipe (add about 1/2 teaspoon
at the same time you add the eggs to the dough), or a good dash of
cardamom in spicy applesauce bars (add 1/2 teaspoon cardamom along with
the other spices) makes a subtle but significant difference.
Others:
Don't over add ingredients, such as
chocolate chips, because the cookies, although they taste great, will
get too mushy from the melted chocolate and will not bake well.
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| Oatmeal
means uncooked rolled oats, either old-fashioned or quick, but
not instant. Instant will get too mushy in the recipe.
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Coconut means the
shredded or flaked and sweetened kind. If you have fresh
coconut, grate it and soak it in milk, refrigerated, for about 6
hours, then drain. This will give it about the same moisture
content as the packaged kind. |
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Raisins, which may be
used interchangeably with chopped dates in most recipes, are the
dark Thompson seedless variety, unless golden raisins are
specified. Currants and muscat raisins are occasionally used.
Raisins should be plump and soft. If they seem dry and hard,
soak them in hot water for 15 or 20 minutes, then drain before
using. |
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Nuts can mean walnuts,
pecans, and almonds, plus others. They can become rancid quickly
(in just a week or two, depending on conditions) at room
temperature, and should be stored in the refrigerator or
freezer. When a recipe calls for
chopped nuts, it usually means walnuts or pecans.
Almonds, with their delicate flavor, and peanuts, which are more
assertive, should be used only when specified. |
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Grated orange and lemon rind (known as "zest") refers to
the outer colored portion of the rind. |
| Unless you are on a diet, choose
full-fat dairy products.
Always use solid cream cheese
and not the whipped variety. |
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Chocolate may be specified as unsweetened, sweetened or
bittersweet chocolate, semi-sweet (such as the chocolate chips
commonly used in Toll House cookies), or sweet. Cocoa (the
unsweetened powder, not a mix) is also called for in some
recipes. Be sure to use the type of chocolate specified, as
substitutions may not be successful. Chocolate burns easily, so
the best way to melt it
is in a double boiler over hot water, in a microwave oven or in
an oven as it preheats for the recipe. Experienced cooks
sometimes place chocolate in a heavy saucepan over direct low
heat, but that method carries the risk of scorching.
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What the Ingredients Do:
Understanding cookie chemistry comes in handy -- you can tinker
and fool around to your heart's content to get cookies exactly the way you want
them. But, always keep in mind, I have found that the recipe pretty much
dictates how the cookies are going to turn out. Fiddling with one or two
ingredients does change a recipe, but you may not like the results. I have
found, 99.99% of the time, for good results, others have to be changed, as well
and it takes lots of trial and error.
Warning: Use this guide to
help you adjust a recipe you've already made so you know what the original was
like and what you'd like to change. And be sure to adjust ingredients, baking
times and other elements gradually, preferably one or two at a time. You'll find
that sometimes simply tweaking something by a tablespoon can make a difference.
These tips are from Shirley Corriher's 1997 "Cookwise" (William Morrow, 1997).
See also What Went Wrong for
solutions.
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