"Alric Knebel" ]> wrote in message
...

> Here are my questions. What makes the cookies crispy? Can baking soda
> and baking powder by eliminated and self-rising flour used instead, and
> will it make my goal of crispier cookies impossible to achieve?
>

Generally speaking, the crispiness of a cookie depends on the fat you use.
Butter tends to make crispy cokes and hydrogenated shortening make softer
cookies, all other things being equal. Since the melting point of butter is
lower, the cookies also tend to spread more in the oven and are thinner than
those made with shortening. Also, baking cookies fully will make them more
crispy and underbaking them will make them more soft.

Adding water makes little sense to me, especially at the end of the mixing
process. Water added early, especially before the flour is coated with fat,
will help make the cookie tougher because it develops the gluten in the
flour. A tough cookie may be seen as being crisper depending on your point
of view. Egg whites tend to make things dryer and that may be interpreted
at being "crispy." Egg yolks tend to make baked good more cake-like. Most
cookies have little or no liquid in them. I think the water is a good sign
of a faulty recipe.

The reason that peanut butter cookies have baking soda in the formula is
that they also call for brown sugar. Brown sugar has molasses in it.
Molasses is acidic. The baking soda reacts with the molasses and produces
CO2. It also neutralizes the acid and that increases browning and increases
gluten formation. You can not leave out the baking soda if it is specified
in a recipe that also calls for self-rising flour or plain flour with baking
POWDER. You can not simply substitute baking powder for baking soda.

You can use self-rising flour and then compensate for any deficiency in the
baking power that the recipe specifies. You would still have to add the
baking soda. Unless you use self-rising flour frequently, I don't see the
point it buying it. You are stuck with a fixed amount of baking power and
salt - ingredients that you may not want (for dredging meat, making most
pastry dough, etc.) in every recipe that calls for flour. You are also
stuck with the type of baking powder that the mill included in the mix. You
still have to stock baking powder, so why bother?

Here is the recipe that I use for peanut butter cookies. They turn out
crisp. Don't make any substitutions.
-----------------------------------
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (not self-rising)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream the butter and peanut butter for about 1 minute in an electric mixer.
Scrape the bowl and add the sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and egg. Beat on
high speed for an additional minute. Combine the dry ingredients. With the
mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients. Increase the speed
to medium and beat for about 1 minute.

Form 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Press flat
with the tines of a fork in a criss-cross pattern, dipping the fork into
sugar between cookies to prevent sticking.

Bake in a pre-heated, 375F oven for 10 - 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Makes about 3 dozen