Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Cakey vs chewy cookies

Guess which is cakey, and which is chewy?

Left: cakey, Right: chewy. Notice the different kinds of marks on each surface.


Both cookies were baked with very similar recipes- 2 little changes are needed to convert cakey cookies to chewy ones.

D and I decided to bake cookies for Christmas, but the Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe from Martha Stewart's Cookies kept yielding cakey cookies. After baking 6 disappointing dozens, I did a little research online and modified her recipe by:

1. replacing 1 egg white with 1 Tbsp of milk
2. mixing the dough longer

These resulted in chewy cookies because moisture from the milk helps to activate gluten in the flour, and mixing the dough longer helps to develop the gluten to form a more chewy texture. Same logic as how bread requires water and kneading to result in an elastic texture.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies)
I've converted the volume measures of butter and flour to grammes for precision.

Makes about 3 dozen
Ingredients
342g unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
203g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg plus 1 yolk
1 Tbsp whole milk, preferably UHT
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 

1. Cream butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment till it looks smooth and non-clumpy.
2. Add the sugars and cream till pale and fluffy.
3. Add salt, vanilla, egg plus yolk, and milk. Mix till combined.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda.
5. Add flour mixture into the mixer bowl. Mix on medium for 4 min.
6. Stir in chocolate chips.
7. Using and ice cream scoop, dollop balls onto baking sheet lined with parchment/greaseproof paper. 
8. Flatten cookies with the back of a spoon. To prevent sticking, place a scrap piece of parchment/greaseproof paper on top of the cookie before pressing down with the spoon.
7. Bake 180 deg c for 13 min, switching racks and rotating sheets from back to front at halfway mark.

Note: I've also reduced the butter and sugar amounts from the original recipe, as I find that American recipes tend to be too sweet. This had no effect on chewiness.

This is what pale and fluffy looks like
Cookies flattened with back of a spoon
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1 comment:

Margarita said...

what are the conversions from 342 and 203 grams to cups or tablespoons?

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