|
a.k.a. The Great Sugar Cookie Experiment Part 1
I’ve always thought of baking, especially decorating, as a form of art. Surprise! It’s actually more of a science… chemistry really. In my quest to find the perfect sugar cookie for decorating, I have learned a lot about how individual cookie ingredients behave in a recipe.
The foundation of any cookie recipe consists of five types of ingredients: fat, sugar, flour, a rising agent, and a binding agent.
Fat is added for flavor and controls how chewy or crunchy the cookie is. More fat = a chewier cookie, less fat = a crunchier cookie. Your options for fat are butter, margarine, shortening, or oil. Since shortening melts at a higher temperature, it is the best choice if you want to keep spreading to a minimum.
Sugar is a sweetener (obviously!) and tenderizer, while controlling how much the cookie spreads. Using white sugar will result in a crispier cookie, while brown sugar will help retain moisture, making cookies chewier. Adding sugar increases the spread of a cookie, so cookies with less sugar will be puffier. Ever notice how sugar cookies spread like crazy?!
Flour is a stabilizer and thickener and controls how much the cookie rises. It holds the cookie together, providing it with its structure. If you use too little flour your cookie won’t keep its shape but if you use too much you’ll end up with a thick tasteless cookie. Also, different types of flour result in different cookie textures. For example, cake flour provides a cake-like texture (go figure!). All-purpose flour is the standard flour used most often.
The rising agent or leavener most commonly used is either baking soda or baking powder. If you use baking soda, your recipe must include another acidic ingredient, like sour cream, lemon juice, or buttermilk. On the other hand, baking powder has its own built-in acid. Baking soda increases browning and spreading, resulting in a flatter cookie. Baking powder will give you a puffier cookie.
Binding agents are the liquid in the recipe that hold the cookie together. Examples of binding agents are eggs, milk, honey, and fruit juice. Cookies with more eggs will rise more and spread less. If you want a crispier cookie, you can replace a whole egg with just an egg white. Or, if you want a chewier cookie, you can replace a whole egg with just an egg yolk.
The rule of thumb for cookie baking is to always keep the amount of fat and sugar used relatively equal. There should be less than 1/4 cup difference between the two. The amount of flour used should be about two times the amount of fat. To determine how much flour to use, start with equal amounts of flour and fat and then increase the amount of flour until the dough is slightly tacky. It is better to have too little than too much. And you should add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of your leavener for every cup of liquid or flour you use (use liquid to determine the baking soda, use flour to determine the baking powder).
Once you have these basic rules down, you can start to tinker with recipes to make them more to your taste. Like I did! See Part 2 of The Great Sugar Cookie Experiment to see my results or head straight to My Favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe and start baking!
Sources: How To Create Your Own Cookie Recipe by Fahrenheit 350, Cookie Chemistry 101 by In the Kitchen with Suzanne Martinson, How To Create Your Own Easy Cookie Recipe by DailyLife, The Science of Chocolate Chip Cookies by I Really Like Food
Your blog looks great! Loving the pictures – I can only hope to take photos half as good!
Thanks, Michelle! I’m lucky… my hubby helps me a lot with that.
Excellent experiment and info. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for visiting and commenting, Lisa! I hope your able to use the info in your baking adventures!
I have been researching this lately! I have been making some of my own recipes and I love this information you have provided! I am definitely going to experiment!!! Thank you so much for sharing and linking to the party;)
Oohhh… I look forward to seeing what you create, Lisa!
What a great post!!! Came over from Bearfoot Baker’s linky party to wish you a great weekend and I am sooooo glad I did! I can’t wait to hear more about this experiment in cookies!!
Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting, Home Girl! I will be updating soon with the sugar cookie recipe I created with all this research. Hope u have a great weekend too! TGIF!
My kind of science! Waiting for part 2!
Absolutely! The best kind of science involves lots and lots of sugar!
Thanks for the info… now which is your favorite of the sugar cookie recipes?
Suzanne, you can find MY favorite sugar cookie recipe under the Yummy Recipes section of my blog (there’s a tab at the top). I will be posting a part 2 to this post soon that will show the steps I used to create the recipe. Do u have a favorite recipe that u currently use?
Janine, thanks for your reply to my comment on Simply Sweets by Honey Bee’s giveaway post RE: speading cookies. I will try the freezer next time. I have seen that in the past but I didn’t realize it was so important…duh! I’ll learn from all the posts! Now where to put all the stuff in my freezer..lol. Thanks again!
You’re very welcome! I think you’ll find that trick makes a world of difference. And, yes, the toughest part is finding space in the freezer!
You have No Idea how much I needed to know this stuff!Thank you – Thank you! This is going to be so helpful – Pinning
Nicole recently posted..Banana Bread Cake & Brown Butter Frosting
You just made my day, Nicole! So glad you found it helpful!
Why do Tollhouse cookies have baking soda and no acid?
Kathy, the chocolate is the acid that activates the baking soda in chocolate chip cookie recipes.
I have often thought about this. Thank you so much for helping me advance my baking skills!
I’m glad you found the information about how ingredients behave in cookie recipes helpful!
Really great info! Great post.
Kari@Loaves n Dishes recently posted..RED BEAN CASSEROLE
This was fun info – I’ve wondered on occasion about the “science” of cooking. Glad you shared. Found you via Say Not Sweet Anne’s link up!
Bekah recently posted..sometimes you just need carbs
Thanks for stopping by, Bekah! I hope you found some useful tips for your cookie baking!
Pingback: An Inquisitive Mind. Also, Cookies :) | The Vintage Kitchen An Inquisitive Mind. Also, Cookies :) | Recipes from 1800(ish) to 1979
Science in baking is such a great topic. Thanks for the info, hopefully I will use it soon!
Dru @ Teenage Cakeland recently posted..Coconut Dutch Baby inspired by Joy the Baker
Who knew science could be so fun, Dru! I hope you found some tips about how ingredients behave in cookies that you can use in your baking.
This is amazing info! I can’t wait to experiment with some recipes now that I will know how to change the ingredients! Thanks so much for sharing! I found you on Showcase your Talent Thursday.
~Rachel from Courting Contentment
So glad you will find this info about how ingredients behave in cookie recipes useful, Rachel! Thanks for coming by to check it out!
Oh my goodness! Thank you! My son is severely allergic to eggs. Because of this I have had so many kitchen experiments go bad. I knew there had to be a “science” behind it! Wish me luck, I am going to use this knowledge to revolutionize our baking! Again, thank you so much for sharing.
Theresa recently posted..Bring On Baseball; Little Man Refashion
So glad to hear that I could help, Theresa. I hope this info about how ingredients behave in cookie recipes leads to some awesome new recipes!
As a beginner-ish baker, this is so informative. Thanks!
Aki @ Minted Strawberry recently posted..DIY: Chain Cage Pearl Earrings
Glad you found this info about how ingredients behave in cookie recipes helpful, Aki. Happy baking!
Very interesting. I’ve always been scared to experiment with recipes. The most experimenting I do is to tweak existing recipes. This has given me a little more confidence to try. Thanks!
Melissa {Simply Sweets by Honeybee} recently posted..Peek-a-Boo Bunnies {Simply Sweet Saturdays}
Once you know how ingredients behave in recipes, you just need a little time to start experimenting. I hope you create a new recipe you love, Melissa!
I’ve shared this all over the place. Pinned! Thanks so much for linking up to Two Cup Tuesday at Pint Sized Baker. I look forward to coming back on Monday Night!
Karyn – Pint Sized Baker recently posted..Eggs, Sunny Side Up!
Thanks for sharing how ingredients behave in cookies, Karyn!
Great, fun info. I love food science. I think sugar also helps in the browning process.
Thanks for your additional input about how ingredients behave in cookie recipes, Suzy!
Wow, this is fascinating. i’ve always wondered how this stuff works. Thanks so much for linking up to Monday Funday!
Kelly @ View Along the Way recently posted..Next Big Project: Moving on out(doors)
Thanks for stopping by, Kelly. Isn’t it amazing what you can do with a little bit of insight into the science of baking!
Thanks so much for linking this post up! It’s definitely taught me a lot. I think I’ll be a lot more confident in adapted recipes now
Tash @ The Velvet Moon Baker recently posted..Creme Egg Cupcakes
I hope you find some new favorite cookie recipes after learning how ingredients behave, Nash. Thanks for commenting!
Pingback: Pin It Thursday - Sweet Bella Roos
This is so helpful!! I don’t bake that many cookies so I’m learning a lot!
Yvonne @ bitter baker recently posted..Dark rye bread
Glad you found this information helpful, Yvonne. Now that you know how ingredients behave in cookie recipes I hope you will be baking more cookies!
What about salt? It’s a flavor enhancer, but I’ve also always been told that it deactivates the baking soda so cookies and cakes set up right. Should be 2:1 ratio soda to salt. Advice from grandma, those things you don’t ask why, you just do!
Interesting, Brooke. I know that salt is added to enhance the flavor and have heard that it also acts as a preservative. But, I have not heard that it deactivates baking soda. I’ll have to look into that. Thanks for the comment.
Wow! How neat…it makes it seem so easy to come up with your own cookie recipe. I never knew.
Thanks so much for linking up at the Real Family Fun link party! Hope to see you next week.
KC
KC @ The Real Thing with the Coake Family recently posted..Guest Post
Once you know how ingredients behave in cookie recipes, you can start changing up the ingredients to get the results you want. It’s like a littl science experiment!
This is great info! My brain never thinks like this when I’m baking. LOL! Thanks for sharing.
Hugs,
Marcie
I Gotta Try That recently posted..I Gotta Try That Party #61
Happy to share, Marcie! Hope you find the info helpful when baking cookies.
What an interesting post! Never really thought about what each of the ingredients do.
Betty Taylor recently posted..Paleo/Primal/Low Carb Eating. Is it Expensive??
Thanks, Betty! Hope you found it helpful.
Hey! I’m new to your website so I’m not sure if this has already been posted but I’m wondering if you could help me with converting my favorite sugar cookie recipe to a chocolate sugar cookie? I’m not sure whether to try adding melted bakers chocolate or cocoa powder?
sharaden, you’ll find the recipe for my favorite chocolate sugar cookies here: http://sugarkissed.net/chocolate-cookies-raspberry-icing/ It used cocoa powder.