Let's say I'm using the recipe for chocolate chip cookies found on the
back of the Nestles' package.


In one batch, I cream the sugar with the butter and proceed.
In the other batch, I melt the butter, then add the sugar.
Everything else is identical.
What would the difference be in the finished product?
Would the cookies be a different shape?
Would the batch made with melted butter be flatter?


Thanks for help on this. I've always creamed the butter and sugar
according to package directions and have wondered.


--Lia

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
news
Let's say I'm using the recipe for chocolate chip cookies found on the
back of the Nestles' package.


In one batch, I cream the sugar with the butter and proceed.
In the other batch, I melt the butter, then add the sugar.
Everything else is identical.
What would the difference be in the finished product?
Would the cookies be a different shape?
Would the batch made with melted butter be flatter?


Thanks for help on this. I've always creamed the butter and sugar
according to package directions and have wondered.


--Lia

Look below. You will not get the volume required in the recipe in addition
the sugar will probably burn on the bottom of the cookie.

Dimitri

http://www.baking911.com/howto/cream.htm

Creaming incorporates the maximum amount of air bubbles so a recipe will
rise in the oven and be light in texture. It is done by beating, with a
paddle attachment, what is called by the trade as plastic fat, usually
shortening or butter, first and then adding crystalline sugar, usually
granulated white or super-fine, as well as brown sugar and creaming the two
together. Fat can also mean margarine, shortening or lard, while sugar can
also be brown or white. It is important to start on low speed until all
ingredients have been incorporated, then switch to medium speed, making sure
to scrape the bowl down periodically to make sure all ingredients have been
mixed thoroughly

On Apr 14, 9:37 am, "Dimitri" wrote:
"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message

news


Let's say I'm using the recipe for chocolate chip cookies found on the
back of the Nestles' package.

In one batch, I cream the sugar with the butter and proceed.
In the other batch, I melt the butter, then add the sugar.
Everything else is identical.
What would the difference be in the finished product?
Would the cookies be a different shape?
Would the batch made with melted butter be flatter?

Thanks for help on this. I've always creamed the butter and sugar
according to package directions and have wondered.

--Lia

Look below. You will not get the volume required in the recipe in addition
the sugar will probably burn on the bottom of the cookie.

Dimitri

http://www.baking911.com/howto/cream.htm

Creaming incorporates the maximum amount of air bubbles so a recipe will
rise in the oven and be light in texture. It is done by beating, with a
paddle attachment, what is called by the trade as plastic fat, usually
shortening or butter, first and then adding crystalline sugar, usually
granulated white or super-fine, as well as brown sugar and creaming the two
together. Fat can also mean margarine, shortening or lard, while sugar can
also be brown or white. It is important to start on low speed until all
ingredients have been incorporated, then switch to medium speed, making sure
to scrape the bowl down periodically to make sure all ingredients have been
mixed thoroughly



What you say may be correct, but I melt the butter in my favorite
recipe, and it stays nice and full, never flat. I don't think there's
a one-size-fits-all answer to this question, because there are so many
variables, especially in cooking temp/time, type of shortening used,
etc.

Big Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies by Nancy Dooley

1 stick oleo, melted and cooled to lukewarm
1/2 stick butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm
1 C. light brown sugar
1/2 C. white sugar
1 extra large or jumbo egg, plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla (I used a scant T.)
2 C. plus 2 T. flour (white, bleached, all-purpose)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
1 12-oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips, regular or "mega."

Put the melted shortening and the sugars in a mixing bowl. Mix until
thoroughly blended. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix
thoroughly. Put the flour, salt and soda in a bowl and whisk or sift
once. Add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture and mix
thoroughly. Stir in chips by hand.

Line cookie sheets with baking parchment. Drop cookie dough on cookie
sheets. Cover unbaked dough with plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out.
Bake at 325 deg. for 13 minutes (check at 11 minutes). Cookies should
be slightly brown on the peaks and edges, and light colored and soft
in the center.

Remove from oven, leave on cookie sheets and cool. Do not put new
batches on hot cookie sheets; make sure sheets have cooled before
reusing. This recipe makes about 3 doz. cookies.

Store in airtight container with waxed paper between layers; (I just
use the parchment that the cookies were baked on) the baked cookies
can be frozen if individually wrapped in plastic wrap and sealed
tightly. The raw dough can be frozen in an airtight container for up
to two weeks. Thaw it in the refrigerator. Thaw baked cookies at
room temperature.
The baked cookies are best eaten within two days.

Variations: Instead of chocolate chips, use chunks of white
chocolate (6 oz.) and macadamia nuts (about 3/4 cup, cut into coarse
bits) (or use proportions of chocolate and nuts to taste).

For the choc. chips, you can substitute 1 C. quick-cooking oatmeal and
1 C. raisins, plumped 5 minutes in boiling water.

You can also substitute 1 1/2 pkg. (about 18 oz.) of brickle bits and
3/4 C. coarsely chopped pecans for the choc. chips.

Julia Altshuler wrote:
Let's say I'm using the recipe for chocolate chip cookies found on the
back of the Nestles' package.


In one batch, I cream the sugar with the butter and proceed.
In the other batch, I melt the butter, then add the sugar.
Everything else is identical.
What would the difference be in the finished product?
Would the cookies be a different shape?
Would the batch made with melted butter be flatter?


Thanks for help on this. I've always creamed the butter and sugar
according to package directions and have wondered.


--Lia

Good question. I was taught that melted butter would make your cookies
tough. Butter should be left outside of the fridge, and it is ready to
use, when the stick of butter starts to bend when you picked it up on
one end.

This could be all wrong (lol!), so I am looking forward to reading the
responses.

Becca

Dimitri wrote:

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
news
Let's say I'm using the recipe for chocolate chip cookies found on the
back of the Nestles' package.


In one batch, I cream the sugar with the butter and proceed.
In the other batch, I melt the butter, then add the sugar.
Everything else is identical.
What would the difference be in the finished product?

Look below. You will not get the volume required in the recipe in
addition the sugar will probably burn on the bottom of the cookie.

Dimitri

http://www.baking911.com/howto/cream.htm




To be more specific, the melted butter batch of cookies
will be flatter and depending on the proportions of
ingredients, may even have a fried, greasy texture.

gloria p

Julia Altshuler wrote:
Let's say I'm using the recipe for chocolate chip cookies found on the
back of the Nestles' package.


In one batch, I cream the sugar with the butter and proceed.
In the other batch, I melt the butter, then add the sugar.
Everything else is identical.
What would the difference be in the finished product?
Would the cookies be a different shape?
Would the batch made with melted butter be flatter?


Thanks for help on this. I've always creamed the butter and sugar
according to package directions and have wondered.


--Lia



Melting the butter will release its moisture, which can develop the
gluten in the flour. The result will be that the cookies flatten *less*
and are chewier. (it's counterintuitive.)

I've started creaming the butter like the recipe says, but using bread
flour instead of AP to get a similar effect.

Bob

Janet Baraclough wrote:

I don't know what kind of "cookies " you mean,...biscuits or cupcakes?


This is the sort I'm asking about:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...I mages&gbv=2


If that link doesn't work, go to www.google.com. In the upper left,
click on "images". Then type "chocolate chip cookies" in the search
box. The whole page is filled with pictures of the sort of cookies I'm
talking about. (I love words discussions and can see how confusing they
can get. There are also cookies left on people's computers.) The
question has to do with shape. The pictures are mostly of flatter
cookies. They can also have a more rounded shape.


--Lia

"Janet Baraclough" ha scritto nel messaggio
I don't know what kind of "cookies " you mean,...biscuits or cupcakes?
Janet

I have never heard anyone say cookie for a cupcake.

To be more specific, the melted butter batch of cookies
will be flatter and depending on the proportions of
ingredients, may even have a fried, greasy *texture.

gloria p- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That is too much of a generalization. Try my recipe: the cookies are
fat and chewy, nowhere near "flat." They are certainly not "greasy"
or "fried-tasting" in any way.

Dimitri wrote:

Look below. You will not get the volume required in the recipe in
addition the sugar will probably burn on the bottom of the cookie.

http://www.baking911.com/howto/cream.htm


That's an excellent webpage, thanks. As you could probably tell from my
question, I'm looking for a flatter cookie. The possibility of burning
doesn't bother me as much, as my baking pans are so thick, I usually end
up baking for longer than the suggested time to get anything to brown.


I can see that it's a complicated subject. I'm going to have to try it
and see. (I've always been like that. First I ask a question. I
believe the answer, but I don't REALLY believe it until I've tried it.)


--Lia

On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:09:26 -0400, Julia Altshuler
wrote:

Thanks for help on this. I've always creamed the butter and sugar
according to package directions and have wondered.

Someone here will have to do the "experiment". Why don't you do it
and report back to us.

Nancy2 wrote:

What you say may be correct, but I melt the butter in my favorite
recipe, and it stays nice and full, never flat. I don't think there's
a one-size-fits-all answer to this question, because there are so many
variables, especially in cooking temp/time, type of shortening used,
etc.



I agree with you about the variables. The first thing I see is that
your recipe calls for margarine and butter. I'm trying to stick to all
butter. The difference in fat would affect the outcome, wouldn't it?
But I'm saving this recipe for when I want something that's reliably fat
and chewy. I think that I'm actually going to have to make 2 batches of
cookies, one with melted butter and one with creamed butter and sugar.

--Lia



Big Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies by Nancy Dooley

1 stick oleo, melted and cooled to lukewarm
1/2 stick butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm
1 C. light brown sugar
1/2 C. white sugar
1 extra large or jumbo egg, plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla (I used a scant T.)
2 C. plus 2 T. flour (white, bleached, all-purpose)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
1 12-oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips, regular or "mega."

Put the melted shortening and the sugars in a mixing bowl. Mix until
thoroughly blended. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix
thoroughly. Put the flour, salt and soda in a bowl and whisk or sift
once. Add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture and mix
thoroughly. Stir in chips by hand.

Line cookie sheets with baking parchment. Drop cookie dough on cookie
sheets. Cover unbaked dough with plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out.
Bake at 325 deg. for 13 minutes (check at 11 minutes). Cookies should
be slightly brown on the peaks and edges, and light colored and soft
in the center.

Remove from oven, leave on cookie sheets and cool. Do not put new
batches on hot cookie sheets; make sure sheets have cooled before
reusing. This recipe makes about 3 doz. cookies.

Store in airtight container with waxed paper between layers; (I just
use the parchment that the cookies were baked on) the baked cookies
can be frozen if individually wrapped in plastic wrap and sealed
tightly. The raw dough can be frozen in an airtight container for up
to two weeks. Thaw it in the refrigerator. Thaw baked cookies at
room temperature.
The baked cookies are best eaten within two days.

Variations: Instead of chocolate chips, use chunks of white
chocolate (6 oz.) and macadamia nuts (about 3/4 cup, cut into coarse
bits) (or use proportions of chocolate and nuts to taste).

For the choc. chips, you can substitute 1 C. quick-cooking oatmeal and
1 C. raisins, plumped 5 minutes in boiling water.

You can also substitute 1 1/2 pkg. (about 18 oz.) of brickle bits and
3/4 C. coarsely chopped pecans for the choc. chips.

Billy wrote:

Someone here will have to do the "experiment". Why don't you do it
and report back to us.


It may be a few weeks before I feel like baking again, but I'm planning
on doing exactly that.


In the mean time, if anyone else does the experiment, would you mind
emailing me privately? I know it's an imposition, but I'm only checking
the usenet group now and then, taking long vacations from y'all, then
bopping back in when I have something to report.


--Lia

Becca wrote:

Good question. I was taught that melted butter would make your cookies
tough.


Tough or chewy? I consider them the same thing, and I like chewy. I'm
trying to avoid cakey in a cookie (though it's a good thing in a cake).


Butter should be left outside of the fridge, and it is ready to
use, when the stick of butter starts to bend when you picked it up on
one end.

I usually remember to take the butter out ahead of time. There's a good
tip on the webpage Dimitri recommended. It said that if you forget to
take the butter out of the freezer, don't microwave it. Grate it. Then
cream the butter and the sugar. That's if you're creaming, of course.
(Why is it impossible to talk about ordinary kitchen procedures without
sounding obscene?) I'm interested in melting. (There I go again.)


This could be all wrong, so I am looking forward to reading the
responses.


I'm pleased with all the responses too, but it's coming down to
someone's having to try it, and that someone looks like it's going to be me.


--Lia

In article ,
Julia Altshuler wrote:

Let's say I'm using the recipe for chocolate chip cookies found on the
back of the Nestles' package.


In one batch, I cream the sugar with the butter and proceed.
In the other batch, I melt the butter, then add the sugar.
Everything else is identical.
What would the difference be in the finished product?

Better texture in the creamed.

Would the cookies be a different shape?

They'd be whatever shape you made them.

Would the batch made with melted butter be flatter?

Yes.

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases