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November
30, 2006
“I just can’t
seem to bake cookies like my grandma made!” the person on the phone
exclaimed. “They’re spread too much, are tough or taste bad.
This shouldn’t be so difficult!”
“Let’s
talk about your process a little and see if we can figure this out,”
I said.
I asked her some questions
about the recipe and how she measured and mixed the ingredients. I asked
about the type of shortening she used, her baking pans, oven temperature
and the other variables that could affect the texture and flavor of her
cookies.
She said she was doing
everything right. The longer we talked, the more upset she became. I was
running out of ideas.
“Maybe your
grandma used a regular coffee cup to measure instead of a measuring cup,
or maybe she had a secret ingredient,” I said.
She didn’t remember
the kind of measuring cups her grandma used. I finally exhausted my supply
of ideas, so I offered a similar recipe.
“No, I have
to use this one.” she said.
Foods, especially
around the holidays, have special meaning to us. The aromas, textures
and flavors remind us of people and other times. Sometimes it’s
not so easy to duplicate the flavors of the past because some of our ingredients,
measuring devices and appliances have changed a bit through time.
Cookies and other
special treats accompany holiday celebrations. The good news: We all have
room for some “discretionary calories” in a healthy diet,
according to the latest recommendations found at www.mypyramid.gov.
Depending on your age, gender and activity level, we all have a cookie
or two a day allowance.
Baking cookies doesn’t
always get credit for being a science, but it is. Baking cookies involves
special formulations, melting of fats to coat starch particles, protein
coagulation and interactions with starch to form the cookie structure,
and caramelization of sugars to develop color and flavor.
If you go into your
“kitchen lab” in the coming weeks, keep these tips in mind.
- Study your recipes
ahead of time and assemble all your ingredients.
- Measure accurately.
Use a liquid measuring cup for liquids and hold the cup at eye level
to check. Most recipes do not require sifting the flour. Instead of
scooping with a cup, use a spoon to put the flour in a measuring cup,
then level with a knife. When measuring brown sugar or shortening, push
the ingredient into the cup so the ingredient retains the shape of the
cup when added to the bowl.
- Use the right
fat. If the recipe calls for butter, don’t substitute low-fat
margarine, which is higher in water and may cause your cookies to spread
off the pan onto your oven coils. As a result, you may need to turn
off your smoke detector. If substituting solid shortening for butter,
be sure to add the amount of water recommended on the shortening can.
- Don’t overmix.
Too much stirring can change the flour protein into gluten, resulting
in tough cookies. The resulting teething biscuits may appeal to your
pets but probably not your guests.
- Resist eating
raw cookie dough. Eggs may contain salmonella, a type of bacteria that
can lead to flulike symptoms or worse. You won’t enjoy the consequences.
- Keep the dough
cool. Consider refrigerating the cookie dough between baking sheets
of cookies.
- Use the right
tools. Instead of relying on your eyeballs to gauge the size of cookies,
consider using a cookie scoop.
- Prepare your pans.
You may not need to grease the pan because cookies usually are high
enough in fat. If needed, grease the sheets with a small amount of solid
shortening or use parchment paper to line the cookie sheets.
- Preheat the oven.
For best results, bake one pan of cookies at a time in the center of
the oven. Cool the pan between batches or the dough will spread.
- Unless the recipe
suggests otherwise, promptly remove the cookies from the cookie sheet.
Family members often help with this process by eating them.
- After cooling,
store the cookies in an air-tight container. You may want to freeze
them. Keeping them out of reach helps with portion control, too.
Are you ready for
some quick and easy cookies? Try this low-fat cookie recipe that requires
no baking.
Chocolate No-bake Cookies
1 1/2 c. sugar
6 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c. canned evaporated milk
1/4 c. margarine
3 c. quick-cooking rolled oats
1 c. shredded coconut (optional)
In a medium saucepan
over medium heat, combine all ingredients except oats and coconut. Cook
until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil one minute, stirring constantly.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in oats and coconut (if desired).
Drop by tablespoon onto waxed paper. Refrigerate until firm and store
in an airtight container. Makes 40 cookies. Each cookie has 70 calories,
1.5 grams (g) of fat and 12 g of carbohydrate.
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Source:
Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Rich Mattern, (701) 231-6136, richard.mattern@ndsu.nodak.edu
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