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Making Cookies: What to Do When They Don't Spread
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Making Cookies: What to Do When They Don't Spread - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. Today, I am going to talk about cookies, my favorite subject. And sometimes people have a problem with cookies that spread too much or not enough. So let's talk about cookies and spreading. It is all connected to the ingredients you use. So, there are five ingredients that are typically used in a cookie. You have a fat: could be butter, or shortening - vegetable shortening. You have a sugar: white sugar, brown sugar, molasses, fine sugar, confectioner sugar, so you have a lot of sugar choices. And then you have flour: you have all-purpose flour, you have high protein flour, not usual in cookies. You have low protein flour, also not usual in cookies, all-purpose most often is the flour you will be using. And then you have a liquid, typically it is an egg, maybe water, maybe cream, maybe milk. And then you also have a leavening agent, probably a baking powder or a baking soda. So the reason why cookies would spread or not spread are all connected to the interaction of these ingredients. So if you have a problem where the cookies is spreading too much, it could be that you have got too much butter. Because butter is going to melt faster than vegetable shortening. So when you think about it being in the oven for 10 minutes, the butter is going to melt fast and it is going to spread quicker, so you are going to have a big spreading action in your cookie if you are using all butter. If you want less spread, use less butter, and use some shortening, or use all shortenings. So you can adjust the fat a little bit. The flour, you just have to carefully measure that flour. I would just suggest an all-purpose flour, do not get fancy with the other, you know, playing with protein levels and stuff. But just stick with the all-purpose flour and measure really carefully. As far as the sugars go, a sugar that dissolves faster is going to give you more spread. So if you think about the sugars, what sugar is going to dissolve faster, of course, sugar or a fine sugar? Think about it. It is the fine sugar that is going to dissolve faster. So confectioner sugar, or super fine sugar is going to dissolve faster and give you more spread. So if you have spreading questions, you can adjust your sugar. Use fine sugar for more spread. Course your sugar, granulated sugar, for less spread. As far as the liquids go, when you think about the liquid, you are thinking about egg and you are thinking about water or cream. So the egg, when it goes into the oven, it is going to cook quickly and set-up quickly, so it is going to cause the cookie to stay firm in that shape. So if you are looking for more spread, you would want to add more water, less egg because that egg is going to set up so quick. Another ingredient that plays into the whole interaction of these ingredients is your leavening agent, we have baking soda and baking powder. We have got an acidic base of our cookie dough and if you add baking soda it will neutralize the acid, giving you more spread. If it is highly acidic, it is going to stay in itself and be a less spread, a higher kind of cookie. So if you use baking powder, you will less spread, baking soda, more spread. So we have talked about the five ingredients and what they do to the spreading action of the cookie. So you can play and adjust, just a little bit, with all five of those ingredients to create the type of cookie you like. Flat and crispy or thicker and softer and chewier. So go play with these ingredients and make a lot of cookies.
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