Week 31 -- Cookie Methods
Cookies are small, usually flat pastries, and are among the world's best loved foods. Cookies differ from cakes, because they have little to no moisture added to the mix, and because they are dry they have a long shelf-life. Part of the pleasure of cookies comes from their versatility. They may be eaten as a midmorning snack or as the elegant end of a formal dinner. Cookies also provide the finishing touch to a serving of ice cream, custard or fruit. Flavors of cookies are limited only by the baker's imagination.
Makeup Methods for Cookies
- Drop Cookies
- Made from soft dough that is spooned or scooped into mounds for baking
- Uniform appearance is not as important for drop cookies as for other types
- Uniform portioning and placement on baking sheet results in uniform baking time
- Icebox Cookies
- Made from dough that is generally shaped into logs, chilled thoroughly, then sliced into pieces and baked as needed
- May be as simple as a log of chocolate chip dough or as sophisticated as elegant pinwheel and checkerboard cookies assembled with two or more colors of dough
- This method usually produces uniform, wafer-like cookies with a crisp texture
- Bar Cookies
- Dough is pressed or layered in shallow pans and cut into portions after baking, usually squares or rectangles to avoid waste or scraps
- AKA Sheet cookies, contains a wide variety of layered or fruit filled products
- Cut-Out or Rolled Cookies
- Made from firm dough that is rolled out into a sheet and then cut into various shapes before baking--think sugar cookies
- Many cookie cutter shapes are available, or you can use a paring knife or pastry wheel to cut the dough into desired shapes
- Cut-out cookies are usually baked on an ungreased pan or parchment paper to keep the high-fat dough from spreading
- Pressed Cookies
- AKA Bagged or Spritz cookies, made with soft dough (often sugar cookie dough) that is forced through a pastry tip
- Usually small, with a distinct, decorative shape
- Dough often includes eggs as their only liquid
- Eggs, which act as a toughener, contribute body and help cookies retain their shape
- Wafer Cookies
- Made with a thin batter (short bread dough) that is poured or spread onto a baking sheet and baked
- While still hot, the wafer can be molded into various shapes
- Popular shapes include the tightly rolled cigarette, curved tuile, cup-shaped tulip
- When cooled they are thin and delicate
Return to Top ›
Mixing Methods for Cookies
- Most cookie doughs are mixed by the creaming method for quick breads and cake batters
- Because cookie dough contains less liquid than quick breads or cakes, the liquid and flour need not be added alternately
- Cookies can be leavened with baking soda, baking powder, or just air and steam
- Most cookies are high in fat which contributes taste and tenderness and extends shelf life
- Procedure for making cookie doughs
- Measure all ingredients carefully, by weight when possible
- Cream the fat (butter should be slightly softened, not cold and hard, but not spreadable either) and sugar together to incorporate air and to blend completely
- Add the eggs gradually, scraping down the bowl as needed
- Stir in the liquid ingredients
- Stir in the flour (cake or pastry flour works best, low protein and high starch flour), salt, spices and leaveners (all sifted together)
- Fold in any nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc
- The Main Challenge in Making Cookies is Incorporating Air
- Low moisture means less steam for mechanical leavening, so incorporating air is even more important
- Heavy fats, sugar, flour, chocolate chips, nuts, none of which contribute air in cookies
- The creaming method for making cookies gives opportunities to incorporate air
- Cream fat and sugar until light and "airy"
- Whip the egg before adding to the fat/sugar mixture, whipping eggs adds air, plus the eggs themselves, through emulsification, will trap air in the dough (protein web)
- Add combined and sifted dry ingredients, adding more air to the dough
- Mix gently to prevent driving all the air out of the dough, don't over mix
- Stir in any extracts, nuts, chips, dried fruit gently
- Throughout the process think how to incorporate more air in the dough to overcome the low moisture content in cookie dough that otherwise would create steam while baking, ie, creaming the fat and sugar, whipping the eggs, sifting the dry ingredients, and avoiding over mixing
Return to Top ›
Desired Cookie Characteristics
- Crispness
- Low proportion of moisture, stiff dough, high sugar and fat content for workable dough
- Longer baking time, decrease oven temp by 25 degrees, to evaporate moisture
- Softness
- Higher proportion of moisture, add a bit of milk, cream, yogurt, sour cream, thin dough
- Lower sugar and fat content
- To get the benefits of crisp cookies but a bit softer, add hydroscopic elements like honey or molasses
- Chewiness
- High sugar and liquid content, low fat content
- High proportion of eggs
- Stronger flour, higher protein content, bread flour, longer mixing time creates chewiness by enhancing glutin content
- Spread
- High sugar and high fat content increase spread
- High leavening agent content (baking soda/baking powder) increases spread (seems counter-intuitive, but true)
- Lower oven temperature, as much as 50 degrees lower, increase baking time by 25%, increases spread
- Increased grease on the baking sheet will increase spread
- Starting with a hot pan increases spread
- How much Rise or Spreading Out
- Depends on the flour to fat ratio (leavening agents, too, of course)
- More fat the more the cookie will spread, more flour the more it will stand up
- If cookies are spreading out more than you like, add a bit more flour, if they are not spreading out enough, add a bit more fat
- For stiffer dough add more egg
Return to Top ›
Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Put 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into pat sizes, slightly softened (not spreadable), into mixer bowl
- Put 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup dark brown sugar with the butter in the mixer bowl
- Set mixer on lowest speed to cream the fat and sugar and incorporate air, after several minutes look for creamy fluffiness, with no granularity
- Scrape down the side of the bowl and add 1 egg (whipped) slowly, a little bit at a time
- The liquid of the egg and the fat are unmixable items, and it's the egg yolk that provides the emulsification that holds the liquid and fat in suspension
- So, add the egg in several increments to ensure proper emulsification
- Sift dry ingredients together in a separate bowl
- 1.25 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Sifting the dry ingredients gives another opportunity to incorporate air in the dough
- When using baking soda, here, the acid for the CO2 reaction will come from the vanilla extract
- Pour the sifted dry ingredients into the mixer bowl along with the butter, sugar, and egg
- Mix at low speed until all ingredients are incorporated, but don't over mix, avoiding excess gluten which would make the cookies chewy (gluten is what makes French dough or bagels chewy)
- Add 1 cup chocolate chips, and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, mix just enough to combine
- Vanilla extract goes in at the end, here, to hold the leavening reaction to the end
- Portion the cookies equally and lay out evenly (a couple inches apart) on parchment paper lined baking sheet
- Baking sheet should be cool at the start
- a hot sheet will melt the fats first and contribute to spread
- Good to refrigerate for 30 minutes before baking. To take less room in the refrigerator, bunch the cookies tightly on one sheet, then after refrigerating, use spatula to spread them out on two or more sheets to bake
- Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes, test for doneness
Return to Top ›
Kourabiedes