Let’s talk… Chewy Cookies! #2 Temperature
Hello everyone!
I don’t know much about weather science, but I am truly convinced that there are only 2 seasons in the United Kingdom: 3 months of glorious summer and 9 months of winter (cries).
A quick recap: One day it’s beautiful cookies and the next day they transform back into spreading ugly ducklings – what happened?!
Moving on from my first puzzle (#1 Measurements), this post is in continuation to my Chewy Cookies Series, and en route to my classic chocolate chip cookies recipe. Let’s jump straight into it!
#2: Temperature
Temperature is simply the most imperative variable responsible for the outcome of your cookies. Baking at the right temperature is not only important for determining baking duration, but it will also make a difference to the final quality of your baked goods.
I’ve presented a simple graph below illustrating my understanding of the rate of melting and the rate of baking (i.e. chemical reactions) over time. Disclaimer: this is based 100% on my own observations but I very much appreciate any opposing comments and arguments please! 🙂
The optimal temperature is where the process of melting and baking aligns perfectly (in nerd statistical terms, where the tangent of the baking curve equals to the rate of melting at the same time T=t.) If the temperature is too low, the cookies may overspread as the cookie dough melts before other reactions have had a chance to occur. Keeping the baking time constant in all test cases, this results in under-cooked or slightly paler cookies. On the flip side: if the temperature is too high, the cookies may not spread as much as the cookie dough is cooked faster, which decelerates the rate of spreading. Your cookies will be slightly burnt with a hard and dry texture. In this recipe my optimal temperature is around 180°C, and as a precaution, I got myself a cheap little oven thermometer for better accuracy.
I have always chilled my cookie dough in the fridge from between half an hour to overnight. Specifically for this test, I went the extra mile to roll up each cookie ball before chilling them in the fridge together with the baking sheets and trays. To be honest I find it slightly unnecessary but the practice was recommended by quite a few forum users. Also, as usual, I made sure the oven was preheated properly before baking my cookie dough.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, the mystery is still unsolved – the cause of my cookies spreading is not due to the temperature inaccuracies.
In my opinion, softened butter or melted butter are both fine, as long as the temperature of the butter (and eggs!) you start with is slightly below room temperature. It seems like cooled melted butter leads to a chewier texture while softened butter leads to cakier cookies. This is fairly important for creaming (incorporation of white sugar & butter to make air pockets, producing lighter final baked goods), as butter that is too warm will not aerate properly with sugar. When you cream butter, you’re not just waiting for it to get soft, you’re beating air bubbles into it.
Note: points taken above are mainly confined to this series, but also applicable in general.
Next, more details into chemical reactions: Let’s talk… Chewy Cookies! #3 Leavening
