The Way the Cookie Crumbles
As an addendum to my Nov. 3 column in the Journal about cookie baking tips, here’s some more detail on the primary components and how they affect the cookies’ taste, texture and other factors:
Fat. Butter makes flavorful, crisp cookies; they spread more than cookies made with shortening. The latter have less flavor, spread less, rise taller and tend to have crisp edges and chewy centers. Margarine can give cookies an artificial taste. If using margarine, use stick margarine; diet margarines or tub spreads contain more water that can produce flattened or burnt cookies. Oil is rarely used, but is common in soft fruit-based cookies, and will give a crisp, nearly crumbly texture to such cookies as pecan sandies. “Softened” butter should be about 65 degrees and slightly firm when pressed. Overly softened butter will cause cookies to spread too much.
Sugar. Cookies made with moist brown sugar spread more and stay moister after baking than those made with granulated sugar. Similarly, molasses and honey and any syrup with fructose will keep cookies soft. Coarser sugar makes thicker, chewier cookies. Confectioners’ sugar with cornstarch in it lessens spread and makes cookies drier.
Flour. High-protein flours, especially bread flour, will increase browning and lessen spread. Cake flour, which is bleached and low in protein, produces paler cookies that spread less and are more tender. Unbleached all-purpose flour falls in the middle, making cookies with moderate spread and browning. Note that Southern all-purpose flours are relatively low in protein and act more like cake flour than many other all-purpose flours.
Eggs. Whole eggs help cookies rise, and also soften them. Egg whites make a crisper, less chewy cookie. Sometimes a yolk is added to an egg-white cookie dough to reduce spread.
Leaveners. Baking powder and baking soda help cookies rise. Many cookie doughs are acidic, and thus the more alkaline baking soda is the preferred leavener to neutralize acidity. Baking powder is typically used in less acidic batters. Baking powder will make butter cookies rise more and also make them drier compared to baking soda. If cookies are pale, a little baking soda also can improve browning. Too much of either leavener can make cookies rise too much and then collapse.
Liquids. A little milk or cream in cookie dough will improve browning but also make the texture more cakelike. That’s even more so with acidic sour cream, yogurt or buttermilk, which give cookies more rise.
