Cookie recipe

[Cronker]

Hello

my very nice cookie recipe calls for 1tsp of baking soda, but I find it gives a chemical, unusual salty taste.

could I substitute baking powder or something else to eliminate this?

[Lisa Shock]

I need to see the entire ingredient list (no copyright violation with just ingredients) to give a good answer.

[Cronker]

Okies:

 

250gm butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup caster sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

2Tbsp cornflour 

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups choc chips

 

thanks for looking over!

[Cronker]

@Lisa Shock everyone raves about them, so perhaps it's just my taste, but I certainly get a metallic, chemical salt aftertaste on them.

[pastrygirl]

You could use less.  The guideline I learned years ago is 1 tsp baking powder OR 1/4 tsp baking soda per cup of flour is needed to leaven most baked goods. And try non-iodized salt (i.e. sea or kosher) to make sure that's not adding any chemical flavors.

[Lisa Shock]

You're not aging the dough are you? If you are doing the 36 hour rest, then baking powder will lose much of its lifting power. If you're going to bake fairly promptly, @pastrygirl's substitution will work just fine.

[Cronker]

I use Himalayan pink rock salt.  I know it's more "salty"  so I only use about 1/4 tsp.  The original recipe calls for rock salt.  Not sure if it's iodised.

i don't rest the dough.

 

thanks for your replies.

[chromedome]

Pink salt isn't iodized.

 

The issue I see with the recipe is that the brown sugar is all you've got for acidity to react with the soda. I'd use baking powder instead, with maybe a tiny pinch of soda to aid browning. I'm also very sensitive to the taste of baking soda, and seldom use it in cookies unless there's molasses or something to counter it. 

[Tri2Cook]

13 hours ago, Lisa Shock said:

You're not aging the dough are you? If you are doing the 36 hour rest, then baking powder will lose much of its lifting power. If you're going to bake fairly promptly, @pastrygirl's substitution will work just fine.

I've left cookie doughs in the fridge for a full week before baking with very little to no noticeable difference in the final product compared to those I baked the same day I made the dough. I'm not saying there's no falloff in the baking powder's strength during that time but I'm wondering if the amount actually required to do the job is less than most recipes call for since it's still strong enough to do the job after that much time.

[Jim D.]

12 hours ago, Cronker said:

I use Himalayan pink rock salt.  I know it's more "salty"  so I only use about 1/4 tsp.  The original recipe calls for rock salt.

 

You could stop using Himalayan salt and see if the taste improves. I once sprinkled pink Himalayan salt on some caramels dipped in chocolate, and it came close to ruining them--overwhelming salty taste.

[Lisa Shock]

22 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:

I've left cookie doughs in the fridge for a full week before baking with very little to no noticeable difference in the final product compared to those I baked the same day I made the dough. I'm not saying there's no falloff in the baking powder's strength during that time but I'm wondering if the amount actually required to do the job is less than most recipes call for since it's still strong enough to do the job after that much time.

 

Cookies don't have much moisture in them, so the effect is not as strong as it is with, say, a cake. But, I recall doing experiments in home-ec in 7th grade where we made various things and baked some right away, some an hour later and some the next day. The baked right away batch was best. Double-acting baking powder (which is what is mostly available out there) have ingredients that give lift when wetted, and ingredients which lift when heated. It's the first ingredients which get played out when you wait to bake.