| Dough Recovery - tuesday 2006-03-07 1528 | last modified 2006-03-07 1528 |
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Someone mentioned my writing here is getting really opaque. So, now for something completely different. I baked from scratch about a week ago for the first time in years. Cherry Chocolate Chunk cookies, based off the old, well-worn Nestle Tollhouse recipe. Baking takes surprisingly little time, even without a KitchenAid or hand mixer. Don't get overly precise about measuring out ingredients. Melt the butter for the wet ingredients, it helps speed up the process so you're not trying to whip large chunks of solid into a mass of sugar. I probably should have cut out some of that sugar. I baked it in two batches, the first immediately after it was mixed - probably it could have cooled in the fridge for a bit - and the second just yesterday. As you might imagine, the dough turned into a huge not-doughy mass in the fridge within that time frame, drying out considerably. As it turns out, though, you can recover the dough by adding in water and mixing it up. It takes a lot of manual labor. You'd probably grind the gears and dent the tines of any mechanical device, so you have to use a spatula. It also takes longer in the oven since, with more water, more needs to evaporate. The cookies came out differently this way, more smooth and cake-like as opposed to more textured and cookie-like in the first batch. I'm not sure if it was the water or the colder initial temperature that did it, but I think it was the extra water adding more viscosity to the dough. I don't know, that was still kind of nerdy. Is there a better way to recover dough, or should I just not let it sit for a week? This is all an exercise in chemistry for now; it's Lent, I didn't eat any of these cookies. |
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Comments
My guess is the ...
My guess is the change in texture is due to the additional mixing that you did. You know how pancakes come out flat if you mix too much?
To keep the dough, I'd double seal it in ziplock bags (so it doesn't absorb any weird freezer smells) and either freeze or fridge it. That way it won't dry out so much.
fugu on March 07, 2006 09:06 PM
Finally, somethi...
Finally, something I can understand...I baked cookies yesterday for the first time in forever...also used the Nestle recipe. I was too lazy to form cookies, though. I just threw the whole batch of batter into a pan and baked it all at once. Then I cut them into squares. Much easier, and they taste the same.
Hm...I hear there's a reason not to melt the butter before mixing w/sugar, but I forgot why. Since I'm no longer a ChE, I don't have to know either. ha.
Evie Sun on March 07, 2006 10:16 PM
Cookie Science
For inquiring minds, what exactly are the things that affect cookie texture? Everything mentioned here (good job, guys). This article on cookie texture explains some of the ways to influence how a cookie turns out, including: type of and quantity of fat, type of and quantity of liquid, type of and quantity of sugar, type of flour, acidity, temperature of dough, mixing technique, and baking time and equipment.
Some are more obvious than others (e.g., baking time), but the main reasons in my case appear to be the water diluting the relative fat content and using cold dough. I'm not sure how additional mixing fits in; overdoing it would make it tough, beating out all the air and overproducing gluten, but I think the opposite was observed (too soft until baked for longer).
Melted butter? Also a texture thing, affecting temperature and liquidity. For the food scientist, the one and only Alton Brown of Good Eats fame expounds on achieving the three major categories of cookie texture: crispy, puffy, and chewy; melted butter belongs to the last, unmelted butter to the first. By the way, that guy's a NECI graduate. Hm, Montpelier, VT...
I need a kitchen chemistry book.
Ryan Lee on March 08, 2006 02:08 AM
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