Cookie Baking Secrets: Chocolate Chip Cookies & Butter Cookies

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gluten+free+dairy+free+classic+chocolate+chip+cookies+recipe

EPISODE

If you have ever wanted to know how to make your cookies more chewy or crisp or moist the next day, you have come to the right place. In today’s episode I’ll discuss aspects of baking that affect texture. Furthermore, if you would like to learn about how specific ingredients affect cookie texture, check out the show notes below.


Show Outline: 

  • Butter Cookies 3:44

  • Experiment with Flavor (butter cookies) 6:44

  • Chocolate Chip Cookies 13:00

  • Bake Time 13:37


Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts

gluten free dairy free butter cookies recipe plain


SHOW NOTES:

Recipes:

  1. Classic Butter Cookies 

  2. Chocolate Chip Cookies 

  3. Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars

  4. Double Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies 

5 Factors that Affect Cookie Texture, Broadly Speaking

-Recipe 
-Rest time (resting the dough in the fridge overnight)
-Size of cookie
-Oven temperature 
-Bake time - Most people over-bake chocolate chip cookies! Take them out of the oven as soon as the middle loses its sheen. 

Troubleshooting - Recipe Adjustments 

Cookies can spread too much, be domed and dry, or otherwise be subpar for a number of reasons. When troubleshooting, always first check bake time, cookie size, rest time, etc. The causes of a problem can vary but if a cookie is too dry or domed, you can try reducing the flour by a tablespoon, or two tablespoons if it is a large recipe. If your cookies spread too much you can try reducing the sugar some (assuming you’ve already tried refrigerating the dough overnight). If your cookies have an off flavor, try reducing the baking soda. And, lastly, if they are falling apart, try adding a little more psyllium husk powder (or xantham gum, gaur gum, chia seeds.. whatever your recipe calls for) and/or 2-3 teaspoons of water. However, if your cookies aren’t holding together always try letting rest for twenty minutes  after baking before removing them from the cookie sheet. If that doesn’t work, then adjust the gums. Psyllium and gums also help keep cookies moist for a few days. Now go forth and bake exquisite cookies 🙂 

Let’s recap, check out the notes below. Always change only on factor when testing a recipe. Changing the recipe is the last thing you should try.

Dry cookie Try in the following order: reduce bake time, reduce flour, add more psyllium husk powder or xanthan gum (using more than 1 teaspoon of gum per cup of flour is very unusual and probably not needed)

Spreading Too Much To reduce spreading allow the dough to rest in the fridge overnight (unless it has whipped egg whites), reduce the sugar

Off Flavor Reduce the baking soda

Falling Apart Let the cookies rest for 20 minutes on the tray after they are baked, add 2-3 tablespoons of water, add more psyllium husk powder or gum

Bake Time

I came across an interesting article on Bon Appétit: How to tell when anything is done baking