Sobaicecream

To GordonCooks: yup, I actually have the transcript for AB's cookie episode bookmarked on my web browser! Baked his chewy cookie recipe yesterday. Got cake. To simdelish: Another invaluable cookie lecture. You guys are the absolute best! I swear I'm going to save all these posts in a special new "Cookie" file on my computer. I think that was a very good point about how the lack of (or slower) browning time could be keeping me from taking my cookies out of the oven early enough. Although, I remember a looong time ago, when I thought chocolate chip cookies had to be a deep golden brown before coming out of the oven, and the next day my cookies turned into flat, fragrant jawbreakers... But I don't *think* I'm overbaking now cause my cookies remain soft when they cool, but are just so darn fluffy. And I'm *definitely* overmixing! I stir that sucker like there's no tomorrow cause I always think cookie dough doesn't need as much care and consideration as something more delicate, like a cake. So that is something else I'm going to change for sure. Okay: I promise not to omit the eggs! Hmm, very excited now to set up the lab and start testing! But, yawn, been a long day. Thanks so much again to everyone for your help. Good night!

Hi Sinclair, That was wonderful! Cookies 101. I would gladly attend the full-length lecture. Regarding my definition of chewy, l'm thinking of something that, yes, is moist (but then so are my muffin tops--er, cookies). I want something with bite--thick, dense, but not raw-tasting. Sort of like... have you ever tried the cookies at Dean & Deluca, especially the oatmeal raisin ones? I'm afraid it's been a while since I sank my teeth into a commercial cookie so I'm a bit hard-pressed to give a mass-produced comparison... but I remember those Dean & Deluca cookies from when I used to live in New York. Mmmm, good memories.

Oh! I was writing my reply to Rachel and then I got interrupted by work, and by the time I finished and posted, a few more suggestions had gone up. Thanks so much for all the tips. I gotta say that I'm one of those who feel you just gotta have butter for cookies! So it looks like I have a bit of a science project on my hands. Think I will--uh oh--*tinker* with liquid sweetners (most inclined to using molasses), maybe flour content, and eggs, or lack of them. kuan: I'm afraid I've never seen instant pudding in a Japanese grocery store. Redsugar: I recently read on America's Test Kitchen that leaving the cookies to cool on the sheet is actually one way to chewier cookies--whaddya think? I know, the whole too hot-overcooked thing... but these are the Cook's Illustrated people, sort of, aren't they (not quite clear on the affiliation, but)??

Thank you for that quick lesson on sugar, Rachel! I love it when I learn that seemingly innocuous ingredients like sugar have such important jobs, like being hygroscopic! Definitely a new word. I was glad to hear that you might consider using a liquid sweetner to be a possible solution to reduced-sugar cookies (ugh, I generally am not partial to the word "reduced" in recipes). I suppose the main problem would be that the dough could turn pretty liquid and might not sit in obedient little mounds on the cookie sheet. I hestitate to even consider this but...would nixing the egg(s) from a cookie recipe have diastrous effects? (And would the taste be horrendously altered?) I tried to search online for exactly what job eggs play in cookie dough but was rater unsuccessful. Anyone know the answer to that one?

Arden (lovely name)! A boy with good taste. I love miso soup too. You're right, a person should have at least a rough idea of the science behind baking before they start messing around. I definitely should not be allowed to tinker (some would even go so far as to say I should not be allowed in the kitchen... but we won't get into that), but I just can't help myself!

Hi tejon, Oh dear, so I guess my quest for a chewy not-so-sweet cookie might be a hopeless one. It was dumb of me to think I could change a recipe so much and not suffer the consequences--and I suffer them often, being a compulsive tinkerer. I love your avatar, by the way. Is that your son? He looks so sweet (from what I can make out behind that giant Chinese(?) spoon! ) Will heed your advice though and search for a lower-sugar recipe. Thanks again!

Hi everyone. I have this cookie-making dilemna that refuses to be solved: my cookies think they're cakes... or muffin tops. Every time. I love cakes and muffins. But when I bake cookies, I like them chewy. If I wanted to make muffins, I'd make muffins. I've tried tons of different chewy cookie recipes--Cook's Illustrated, Alton Brown's, etc.--but every time, my cookies come out light and fluffy. The only thing I can think of that is ruining the outcome is that I always drastically cut back on the amount of sugar. I like my cookies barely sweeet, so I usually half the amount of sugar called for. Is this the root of my problem? But I figure that cakes use tons of sugar, so surely that can't be it. Would it help if I used molasses instead of sugar? And although I thought whipping up a batch of cookie dough is pretty straightforward, is there actually a certain technique? Perhaps I am stirring my ingredients too long or not long enough. Would appreciate any advice or even guesses!

Cringe! I'm so sorry about my earlier plagiaristic cut and paste. And I hope I haven't irrevocably offended any die-hard ethicists among you. I must confess to being terribly ignorant about copyright on the Internet, but since the recipe was on the America's Test Kitchen website and freely accessible, I thought it would be okay. I do hereby pledge never to cut and paste recipes online ever again. Redsugar, I'm duly impressed by your Banana Royal Family membership and am ready to try out your proffered recipes. Just wondered though, could you describe the difference between the two breads--texture and appearance and things like that? And cocoa bananas?! Wow, that sounds like one of those species that only grow in stories like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I guess it's probably not exactly as I am envisioning it... One last question from this unwitting plagiarist: in Singapore, there is a snack called goreng pisang, where a specific type of banana is battered and deep fried whole. Anyone tried this? The intense heat from the oil makes the banana unbelievably sweet, and contrasted with the hot, crunchy exterior--mmmm, banana joy.