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Cookies Spread Too Much
at Thu, 11 Dec 2003 18:50:37 GMT in
>, (Vox
Humana) wrote :
>
>"Thomas R. Leith" > wrote in message
hlink.net...
>> Hi --
>>
>> The thread on baking sheets makes me think I can get some advice here.
>>
>> I've been having troubles with my toll-house recipe chocolate chip
>> cookeis and snickerdoodles "spreading" too much for several years.
....
>> We use air-cushioned pans. Do they not heat-up quick enough, and let
>> the butter melt before the flour, sugar, and eggs start to "set"? ...
>>
>> We bought a box of frozen, unbaked cookies from some school fundraiser
>> and we don't have trouble with these. But maybe they're made with
>> shortening instead of butter...
>
>You are on the right track. While there are several factors that can
>influence the spread of cookies, the profile of the fat is the most
>likely cause of your problem. ...
>
>I would first try changing the fat....
>
As I've posted before, changing the fat isn't necessary. You can easily use
all-butter and have minimal spread, simply by increasing the egg proportion
slightly. The more eggs you have, the softer the cookies become. It's
possible to tune the recipe for almost any desired flatness and crispness
simply by adjusting the egg ratio. Changing the fat is another way to
achieve the same end, but there's always a flavour compromise using that
approach.
Certainly it's best that your dough be as cool as possible when the cookies
hit the oven, but I haven't found freezing it to be necessary. The only
thing you want to avoid is that the butter actually melt before the cookies
are in the oven.
Again, remember that the Toll House recipe was designed to produce flat,
crisp cookies, so if you're following that recipe to the letter, you're
getting the result you should expect. It's necessary to alter the recipe to
get less flat cookies.
--
Alex Rast
(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)
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