Help needed with cookies! (Long)
 

I throw myself on the mercy of the bakers here, for some advice...

I have constantly had problems, trying to bake light, raised, cookies
with my Spelt flour. They constantly turn out flat and thin, like lace
cookies or puddles.

A while back, Vox Humana graciously posted a recipe for crispy peanut
butter cookies. I tried them, and they came out perfectly - light,
slightly crisp, over 1/4" thick, with a lovely texture. Best I've ever
had come out. Made them several times since, and they are gone quickly.

Even a great peanut butter cookie is just not enough of a repertoire. My
girls had been baking snickerdoodles the other day (from frozen
fund-raiser dough), and tonight, I felt the need for some myself.

I searched and read a number of recipes, and finally settled on one from
recipesource.com which I'll quote below. It uses more flour to fat ratio
than Vox's, but not altogether dissimilar. The instructions were pretty
generic; since Vox's details on creaming and mixing times and orders
were quite precise, and the recipe *works*, I followed that process. The
cookies raised nicely in the oven, spreading only a little more than the
2" expected spacing, so only a few touched together. Stayed high and
puffy, right up to a minute or so before they started to set and get
some color, then went flat as the kind of pancake I like. They're crisp,
quite delicious, but just not the 1/4" to 3/8" thick, airy cookie I was
hoping for! When I touched one, after about 6 1/2 minutes, to see if it
was getting set, it deflated like a soap bubble - there was just nothing
there...

Can someone please analyze these two recipes, and suggest how I might
get the results I'm looking for, from anything except this one peanut
butter cookie?!?

Dave

================================================== ==============
Here is the recipe that I use for peanut butter cookies. They turn out
crisp. Don't make any substitutions.

Peanut Butter Cookies
-----------------------------------
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.

[On insulated sheets, with Spelt flour, make it 400F for 10+ minutes.]

Makes about 3 dozen

Vox Humana in rec.food.baking

================================================== ==============
Snickerdoodles

1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c shortening
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 c flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix thoroughly butter, shortening, 1 1/2 c sugar and the eggs.
Blend in flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt.
Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls.
Mix 2 tbs sugar and the cinnamon; roll balls in mixture.
Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set.
Immediately remove from baking sheet.

Help needed with cookies! (Long)
 

"Dave Bell" > wrote in message
. com...
> I throw myself on the mercy of the bakers here, for some advice...
>
> I have constantly had problems, trying to bake light, raised, cookies
> with my Spelt flour. They constantly turn out flat and thin, like lace
> cookies or puddles.
>
> A while back, Vox Humana graciously posted a recipe for crispy peanut
> butter cookies. I tried them, and they came out perfectly - light,
> slightly crisp, over 1/4" thick, with a lovely texture. Best I've ever
> had come out. Made them several times since, and they are gone quickly.
>
> Even a great peanut butter cookie is just not enough of a repertoire. My
> girls had been baking snickerdoodles the other day (from frozen
> fund-raiser dough), and tonight, I felt the need for some myself.
>
> I searched and read a number of recipes, and finally settled on one from
> recipesource.com which I'll quote below. It uses more flour to fat ratio
> than Vox's, but not altogether dissimilar. The instructions were pretty
> generic; since Vox's details on creaming and mixing times and orders
> were quite precise, and the recipe *works*, I followed that process. The
> cookies raised nicely in the oven, spreading only a little more than the
> 2" expected spacing, so only a few touched together. Stayed high and
> puffy, right up to a minute or so before they started to set and get
> some color, then went flat as the kind of pancake I like. They're crisp,
> quite delicious, but just not the 1/4" to 3/8" thick, airy cookie I was
> hoping for! When I touched one, after about 6 1/2 minutes, to see if it
> was getting set, it deflated like a soap bubble - there was just nothing
> there...
>
> Can someone please analyze these two recipes, and suggest how I might
> get the results I'm looking for, from anything except this one peanut
> butter cookie?!?
>
> Dave
>
> ================================================== ==============
> Here is the recipe that I use for peanut butter cookies. They turn out
> crisp. Don't make any substitutions.
>
> Peanut Butter Cookies
> -----------------------------------
> 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.
>
> [On insulated sheets, with Spelt flour, make it 400F for 10+ minutes.]
>
> Makes about 3 dozen
>
> Vox Humana in rec.food.baking
>
> ================================================== ==============
> Snickerdoodles
>
> 1/2 c butter, softened
> 1/2 c shortening
> 1 1/2 c sugar
> 2 eggs
> 2 1/4 c flour
> 2 tsp cream of tartar
> 1 tsp soda
> 1/4 tsp salt
> 2 tbs sugar
> 2 tsp cinnamon
>
> Heat oven to 400 degrees.
> Mix thoroughly butter, shortening, 1 1/2 c sugar and the eggs.
> Blend in flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt.
> Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls.
> Mix 2 tbs sugar and the cinnamon; roll balls in mixture.
> Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet.
> Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set.
> Immediately remove from baking sheet.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I would cream the butter and shortening for about five minutes to
incorporate air. Then I would slowly add the sugar and beat for a few more
minutes. Then, I would add the eggs, one at a time until they are
incorporated.

I would try substituting a tablespoon of double acting baking power for the
cream or tartar and soda. To prevent spreading, I would form the balls and
then freeze them for about thirty minutes.

I have never used spelt flour, so I can only give some general
recommendations.

Help needed with cookies! (Long)
 

I Would repeat Vox's ideas. Also, butter, instead opf marjarine or
shortening, melts really fats. If you are "softening" the butter over
heat so that it is liquid, then your cookies will instantly spread out
into thin crisp crackers. Just leave it out overnight; don't heat the
butter. And for the creaming process, usually combine the butter and
the sugar, and I wouldn't even go five minuites - just a bit so they
are combined. Then add at least a bit of the flour at the end of the
"creaming" for substance.

Then get an oven thermometer to check the accuracy of your oven dials.
Learn your own oven's quirks, don't use dark pans, and still experiment
for the temps and timings that work just for you. Like a laboratory
scientist, keep a notebook or notes in the margin of your recipes.
Note what you changed this time and that, and how the results were.
Practice, practice, and take the results to the office or the
neighbors.

Help needed with cookies! (Long)
 

I actually made Snickerdoodles tonight...My recipe was very similar to the
one posted..Try mixing the butter and shortening together first, then add
the sugar...Once creamy add the eggs one at a time...Add the dry
ingredients in batches to mix...If you like them chewy they only take
about 9 to 10 min...