.Cookies 101
Source of Recipe
From "Family Circle Best-Ever Cakes & Cookies"
Recipe Introduction
On the surface, cookies may seem like the easiest option for bakers. But because the dough has so little moisture, minor problems can turn into major mistakes. Follow our tips to ensure dozens of perfect goodies, each and every time.
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INGREDIENTS RULE
If a batch of cookies crumbles, try this trick the next time you bake the recipe: Sprinkle a little water on the flour before you mix it with the other ingredients. The water will activate the gluten (a protein) in the flour, and this will help the cookies hold together.
It's the amount of liquid (including butter, which liquefies as it melts) in a recipe that dictates whether the cookies spread during baking. There are several things you can do to minimize spread:
• Reduce the amount of liquid.
• Increase the amount of flour, or use bread flour, which absorbs more water, instead of all-purpose.
• Use shortening instead of some or all of the butter. Butter melts as soon as it meets the hot oven, but shortening holds its texture better, so cookies made with it keep their shape during baking.
• Chill the dough before putting the cookies into the oven. Very cold fat will take longer to melt, so the cookies won't be as likely to spread.
The sweetener called for has a lot to do with texture. Cookies made with granulated sugar, little moisture and no acidic ingredients will be hard and crisp. Those made with brown sugar or honey absorb moisture and soften after baking. Corn syrup browns at a lower temperature than sugar; substituting even a tablespoon of it will give cookies a crisp surface.
Recipes using egg for the liquid will be soft, rather than crisp. If a recipe is too crisp for your liking, try substituting cake flour for the all-purpose, or use shortening for part of the butter.
If the dough is too acidic, the cookies may not brown during baking. Next time you make the recipe, add a little baking soda to neutralize the acid. Substituting corn syrup for a small amount of the sugar, and using bread flour instead of all-purpose also enhances browning.
ROLL THEM RIGHT
Before rolling out chilled dough, sprinkle the work surface, disc of dough and rolling pin with a little flour.
If you want the cookies to be light and puffy, lightly oil the work surface and rolling pin instead of sprinkling them with flour -- the oil works just as well.
Some people like to roll out dough between sheets of waxed paper. Though the dough may stick to the paper, it is easy to peel off the paper and adjust the dough.
Gather dough scraps and reroll them as many times as you need to. Cookie dough has large amounts of sugar and fat, so, unlike pastry dough, it won't become as tough with repeated rolling.
PAN PICKS
Heavy-duty aluminum baking sheets distribute heat evenly and reduce the risk that cookies will burn.
Insulated baking trays (made with an air pocket between two sheets of metal) prevent cookies from burning but don't conduct heat as quickly as single sheet pans, so baking time may be longer.
Dark metal baking sheets conduct heat very well, but there is a greater risk your cookies will burn.
TO GREASE OR NOT?
* Always grease the baking sheet if the recipe directs you to do so.
If there is no indication of whether to grease the baking sheet, grease it. Some people mistakenly believe that greasing the pan will cause the cookies to spread during baking, but this is not the case - it is the amount of liquid and type of fat that cause cookies to spread.
Even if you are using nonstick baking sheets, it is a good idea to grease them with nonstick cooking spray.
Some bakers like to use flexible nonstick baking sheets, which are liners that you lay on the baking sheet. You can purchase them from a good baking supply vendor.
Another alternative is to grease aluminum foil and use it to line baking sheets for easy cleanup. Parchment paper, available at good supermarkets, is even better.
IN AND OUT OF THE OVEN
New electric ovens are computerized to heat evenly. If yours is of this type, you can put the oven racks at any level, and bake more than one sheet of cookies at a time.
With an older, non-computerized electric oven or a gas oven, place the oven rack in the middle position and bake one sheet at a time. It's a good idea also to rotate the baking sheet from back to front halfway through baking.
If you decide to bake two sheets of cookies at one time, switch them between racks and rotate from back to front halfway through baking.
Periodically check the accuracy of your oven thermostat with an oven thermometer.
Always use a timer -- cookies bake so quickly you don’t want to forget them for even a minute.
Cookies should be removed from the oven as soon as they begin to brown around the edges. If you wait until they're brown in the center, they'll be overdone.
Most cookies will tear if you try to remove them from the baking sheet the minute they come out of the oven. Follow your recipe directions for removing cookies from the baking sheet so they can cool.
If the recipe doesn't provide cooling information, place the baking sheet on a wire rack for 1 to 2 minutes to cool the cookies slightly, then transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely.
Cookies that contain egg are especially likely to stick to the baking sheet if they're left on it too long -- so don't forget to remove them while still warm.
BAR COOKIE BRIEFING
If you line the baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang at two opposite ends, you'll be able to lift out baked bars easily--without breaking.
* To press dough into the pan, first cover your hand with plastic wrap. You'll be able to gently smooth the surface without sticking.
If baking in a glass pan, reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees.
If your baking pan is not the size specified in the recipe, the baking time will differ. In a smaller pan, the dough will be thicker and take longer to bake. With a larger pan, the opposite is true, so check for doneness early.
Be sure to let bar cookies cool completely before cutting. You'll have neater, crumb-free edges.
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