The finer points of cookie baking

[jgm]

I like to bake cookies, but I'm not very good at getting a consistent, attractive appearance.

I'm making some drop cookies this weekend; I'll be using an oatmeal chocolate chip recipe. What can I do to make these look uniform, for a good presentation? I do have a digital scale and can weigh each piece of dough, if that's what it takes. Do I need to roll each piece in my hands to get a spherical shape?

I'd appreciate any tips for any kind of cookie. A few weeks ago, I saw Alton Brown making cookies that he cut out with a cookie cutter; he moved the cookie, cutter and all, onto the baking sheet and then removed the cutter. Although I don't often make this type of cookie, maybe I would do so more often if I could get them to look really professional.

[Trishiad]

i use a scoop

[JSkilling]

For rolled cookies, I use very chilled dough and roll between two sheets of parchment. If you roll to about 1/4" you have a nice enough weight to withstand any movement and if the dough is very cold it won't move around. I then usually do pick up the dough in the cutter and move it to the silpat that way. Bake them just until they turn color at the edge - turn down the heat if you are using dark, insulated pans.

[chefpeon]

It all depends on the type of cookie you're doing. Cut out cookies, are, of course, easy to keep

uniform, since they are cut with a cookie cutter.

Regarding drop cookies, yes, use a scoop. When you bring the dough off the mixer, use whichever size scoop you wish and scoop out all your cookie dough into individual balls and

refrigerate for a half hour or so. Then pre-heat your oven, place your cookie dough balls

on the cookie sheet, and press down lightly so they are little disks. Then bake. They should

look lovely and uniform.

Some people roll drop cookie dough into logs, then refrigerate or freeze. Then they slice off

little disks from the log and bake. I've done both ways, and I like scooping better.

[jgm]

A scoop, it is! Oh, boy, an excuse to buy a new toy! And tomorrow's payday.

[JFLinLA]

jgm -- you know you're a baking fanatic when, as a home baker, you several scoops of different sizes and even duplicates of the same size.

[chromedome]

At my work, we bake anywhere from 650-1000 drop cookies every day (depending on catering orders). We use a scoop. My night baker scoops 15 cookies, roughly 150g each, onto a sheet pan. Then she mashes them with a flat plastic thingie to about 1/4" (ie, 1/2 cm) thick, resulting in a pretty uniform cookie. I'm racking my tired brain to remember the number of the scoop, but I can't. It's the one with the blue handle, if that does it for anybody.

It gives you a good compromise of reasonable uniformity with speed of execution.

[easternsun]

Some people roll drop cookie dough into logs, then refrigerate or freeze. Then they slice off

little disks from the log and bake.

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i tried this for the first time last weekend and it worked out really well. i think it was the first time my cookies were all the same size!

[Sarah Phillips]

Drop cookies are sooo delicious!

I always weigh my drop cookie dough instead of using a cookie scoop or forming it into a ball.

I find that I handle DROP cookie dough less when I weigh it. I use my fingertips to portion out a small amount of dough by pinching a small amount -- not forming it into a ball -- but rather a clump of cookie dough. I weigh the clump and then drop it directly onto the baking sheet! As you form more and more "clumps", you get the feel for how much dough you need, so the less you need to adjust the amount you need. If the dough weighs too much, I pinch off what I don't need. If there's too little, I simply LIGHTLY press extra dough into the clump.

I find I get really tender cookies that way rather than scooping the dough or handling it by rolling it into a ball!

Here's why -- When I used to scoop cookie DROP cookie dough I noticed that you can' help by pack it down into the scoop and handle it a lot. The same thing happens when I'm rolling DROP cookie dough into a ball. This way I am toughening the DROP cookie and reducing its flavor and making it dry. The concept is that everytime you handle or manipulate moistened wheat flour, you create gluten. Too much gluten toughens a baked good, making it dry and decreasing its flavor.

Also, weighing dough is more accurate.....That's how bread dough is portioned, so why not use the same technique for cookie dough....I do the same for all cookie dough, using different portioning techniques appropriate for the type of cookie I'm baking.......

(And, my audience is primarily for home bakers.....)

Edited March 15, 2005 by Sarah Phillips (log)

[andiesenji]

I agree with everyone else about using a scoop or "disher" as it is know in the trade.

They come in many sizes but the smallest are perfect for drop cookies and if you scoop, draw the scoop against the side of the bowl to compress and remove excess dough, you will have uniform-sized mounds of dough. It is also much faster than any other method, except for using machines.

One of my friends is a cook/baker at a private school and mixes up huge batches of cookie dough. In particular oatmeal/bran/raisin cookies which are a favorite.

After mixing the dough, she uses an electric food grinder with the long sausage stuffer tube to extrude a long, continuous "rope" of cookie dough which she then cuts with a bench knife into uniform pieces.

However she is making hundreds of dozens of cookies at a time.

She says she got the idea when watching one of the Food Network shows where they showed how some snacks were produced. She tried it and it worked, particularly with very thick or dense and stiff doughs.

I have not tried this myself, I do not bake huge batches of cookies, however it seems like a good idea to me.

[Trishiad]

and you can use your spiffy new scoop for filling cupcake tins too!

[chefpeon]

I use my fingertips to portion out a small amount of dough by pinching a small amount -- not forming it into a ball -- but rather a clump of cookie dough.

Clumps are cool.....gives you a more homemade looking cookie....but....if you want a cookie that is more uniform and round, as jgm was after, nothin' beats a scoop.

Here's why -- When I used to scoop cookie DROP cookie dough I noticed that you can' help by pack it down into the scoop and handle it a lot. The same thing happens when I'm rolling DROP cookie dough into a ball. This way I am toughening the DROP cookie and reducing its flavor and making it dry. The concept is that everytime you handle or manipulate moistened wheat flour, you create gluten. Too much gluten toughens a baked good, making it dry and decreasing its flavor.

I disagree with part of this somewhat. I find that I handle the dough no more with a scoop than I would if I were pinching it off and readjusting the amount of dough on a scale. In fact, I do believe I handle it LESS with a scoop. Not only that, but with a scoop, you're not only portioning it, but shaping it at the same time.

When you mix or handle moistened wheat flour extensively you DEVELOP gluten...you don't create it. The gluten is already there....the more you mix it the longer the gluten strands become.

However, a lot of fat (butter, shortening, margarine) inhibits gluten development by "lubrication" for lack of a better word. Since most cookie doughs are laden with fat, the simple action of packing a cookie scoop with cookie dough is not going to create a tough dry cookie. About the only way you'll achieve that is to leave the dough on the mixer, turn it to high speed, and walk away to watch Oprah for a while. That'll give ya some gluten strand action, I'll tell ya.

Also, I fail to see how overhandling a dough would reduce its flavor? Change the texture, yes,

but reduce the flavor?

Also, weighing dough is more accurate.....That's how bread dough is portioned, so why not use the same technique for cookie dough....I do the same for all cookie dough, using different portioning techniques appropriate for the type of cookie I'm baking.......

No doubt that weighing is the most accurate! But I must say, I've only portioned out bread dough on a scale because it's darn hard to scoop it.

[boulak]

Chefpeon, I could not agree more. When in production, a scoop is the way to go. Not only does fat inhibit gluten development, but sugar is a tenderizer as well, and baking soda (the most common cookie leavener) has a rotting or decaying effect on the gluten, allowing for spread. In addition to that, most cookies are made with a lower protein flour than breads, etc. which do require ample gluten development. In bread bakeries, dough dividers are common for rolls and loaves to expedite the process and to ensure consistency -- another reason to use a scoop for cookies -- speed and efficiency in achieving the consistency necessary for an even bake and customer satisfaction. I don't find it necessary to refrigerate the cookies in order to bake them, but have for the sake of production, scooped a week's worth of cookies, refrigerated them and pulled them out daily to bake with little or no negative impact. Production baking is certainly different from home baking, but the science remains the same. Scooping works on a number of levels. Also, bread is typically sold by weight. Cookies, although they should all be of identical weight, are not necessarily sold by weight.

[browniebaker]

All the above tips are great. I might add that sometimes, because of a draft in my oven at the rear right corner, some of my drop cookies spread into an oval no matter how perfectly round the ball of dough was. My trick is to use the edge of a knife or spatula to push the cookie into a round shape while it is still hot and soft on the cookie sheet -- the first 30 seconds or so out of the oven. Yes, I'm working fast!

[ivan]

Theoretically, if you start out with identically shaped dough dollops, the resulting cookies will also look similar. Since most dough melts and spreads to some degree, the height and circumference of each dollop is critical. Also, naturally, the consistency of the dough is important -- an imperfectly blended mixture will result in dollops of differing properties. Further, the beginning temperature is a factor: if you fill half a cookie sheet with dollops made from chilled dough, then get distracted by something for several minutes before filling the balance of the cookie sheet, the dollops formed earllier will be much warmer that the dollops formed later, and will result in cookies of a different shape. One approach is to emulate, as much as possible, production-line techniques of large-scale cookie manufacturers. I've achieved good results by doing the following: when the dough is thoroughly mixed, roll it into a long cylinder of uniform width and freeze it. After it is frozen solid, slice the cylinder into lozenges of equal size. The diameter of the cylinder and the thickness (or height) of each lozenge determines the diameter and thickness of the cookie. Working quickly, place the lozenges on a cookie sheet and bake. The rest is up to the vagaries of Chaos Theory and the Third Law of Thermodynamics. Upon removing the cookie tray from the oven, your heart may sink at the realization that despite your very best efforts, the cookies are all quite different from each other. If so, take comfort in the fact that corporate cookie behemoths have spent millions on R&D to get their cookies to be unidentical for that "home-baked" look.

[Sarah Phillips]

Thanks for your comments. My website and advice is targeted to the home baker, so that's where my perspective comes from.

I wrote>>> I use my fingertips to portion out a small amount of dough by pinching a small amount -- not forming it into a ball -- but rather a clump of cookie dough.

Edited March 17, 2005 by Sarah Phillips (log)

[jgm]

This probably isn't necessary, but I just wanted to point out that I'm not after "perfect" cookies so much as I'm after a more uniform appearance that will make them look nicer on the tray. I don't doubt there are people out there who are after "perfect", however.

It's simply a presentation issue for me. As I improve my cooking skills, I'm trying to pay attention to presentation issues, also. I think we can all point to times in the past when we or others have made cookies which had great flavor but extremely irregular appearance, and were piled in a container for transport to our destination, and arrived stuck together and somewhat smashed. I'm trying to avoid that. The cookies I'm getting ready to make, have both semi sweet chocolate chips as well as milk chocolate chunks. My philosophy is that if I'm going to spend $ on a good grade of chocolate to go in them, I want them to look as nice as possible, too.

[Trishiad]

good for you jgm. you're right to choose not to present strangley shaped cookies that are stuck together in stacks and end up broken with crumbs all over them. no one can resist a plate of nicely rounded cookies with chunks of fine chocolate in them.

stick with the scoop, it's not for professionals only. i'm not a baker, nor is husband, or our 3 year old son and we all do just fine with the scoop. we just made some lovely oatmeal cookies yesterday. big scoop for me, little scoop for the boy. yum and cute too.

[Sarah Phillips]

It's simply a presentation issue for me.  As I improve my cooking skills, I'm trying to pay attention to presentation issues, also.  I think we can all point to times in the past when we or others have made cookies which had great flavor but extremely irregular appearance, and were piled in a container for transport to our destination, and arrived stuck together and somewhat smashed.  I'm trying to avoid that.  The cookies I'm getting ready to make, have both semi sweet chocolate chips as well as milk chocolate chunks.  My philosophy is that if I'm going to spend $ on a good grade of chocolate to go in them, I want them to look as nice as possible, too.

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I think it's great that you're trying to improve the presentation of your cookies! And, why not...as you said, if you're going to spend lots of money, you want your cookies to look as good as possible. In fact, I have tips on my website on how to achieve good looking cookies, in addition to good tasting, achieving great texture etc....!

But, I am finding that so many home bakers are afraid to bake and embarassed by the outcome of their "creations" because their cookies, pies or cakes don't look like they should in the magazines, and therefore, they think they are a "failure" -- and the person stops baking for fear of what their neighbor will think -- even if their recipe tastes great!

I applaud you for continuing to bake even though your cookies were stuck together and somewhat smashed...many would have quit or not served their cookies at all because of what appears to be today's philosophy of achieving the "perfect looking cookie". (I've purchased plenty of expensive, perfect looking baked goods, from bake shops, baked with top ingredients that simply tasted horrible! )

I also applaud you for working on your baking skills......Presentation is very important...."We eat with our eyes, too!"

I'm just giving my opinion on what I feel to be a problem in general...that there's too much emphasis on making "the perfect looking recipe" rather than one feeling proud of one's homemade baking accomplishment.....That's all....

Edited March 17, 2005 by Sarah Phillips (log)

[chefpeon]

My response>>>>>Basically, you are describing the techniques that work for you in a professional, industrial kitchen and I am describing techniques that have helped home bakers. Given your respective work venues, I believe we are both correct.

From your original post, I knew that you direct your advice to the home baker. Of course there are differences in how one bakes at home vs. a professional situation......I know, since I do both quite a bit.

My response however, was neither directed specifically to the home baker or the professional pastry chef. It was written as general information that is equally important to the home baker and the PC.

Really, I was only trying to point out that since most cookies are fat laden and not made with high protein flours, that scooping vs. pinching has no adverse effect on cookie dough regarding

toughness and dryness, as your original post alluded to. Whether one chooses to pinch or scoop is their own preference. I just disagreed about the part that scooping would make a dryer tougher cookie than pinching. It doesn't.

You wrote>>>No doubt that weighing is the most accurate! But I must say, I've only portioned out bread dough on a scale because it's darn hard to scoop it.

My response>>> The professional baker has such a good sense of things and your technique is a lot faster. Industrially, wouldn't you set up a requirement that every so often they would have to weigh the cookie or whatever to make sure the weights weren't going off?

Actually my comment about scooping bread dough was kind of a joke. I did artisan bread for quite a while, and even though I got a feel for what 2 lbs felt like, I still had to scale it and either pinch off or add an ounce or two. I felt this slowed me up (when you do hundreds of loaves a night, a couple seconds adds an eternity to your night), and I always hated scaling. If it were possible to scoop bread dough, I'd have done it.

If I, or my cookie scoopin' people were scooping out level scoops of cookie dough, I wouldn't require them to weigh the dough, nor would I require them to weigh every 12th one or whatever, either. I've had many helpers scoop dough for me, and I've never had issues where the cookies greatly varied in size. In order to make a level scoop, you have to pack the dough in, so there's very little room for variation in the size of the scoop of dough that comes out.

When one is speaking about cookie doughs, of course you want to address the fact that overhandling them is a bad thing. But cookie doughs are more forgiving than say, pie doughs,

scone doughs, muffin batters, and biscuit doughs. With those, you want the least bit of handling.

A couple of overkneads on a pie dough result in the difference of flaky vs. tough. With cookie dough, one does not need to be quite as careful. A couple extra rotations of the mixer paddle,

or pinching vs. scooping will not affect it adversely. To overhandle a cookie dough, you REALLY

have to overhandle it......which was my basic point. Whether one is a pro or a home baker makes no difference. This info is valuable to both.

[Sarah Phillips]

When one is speaking about cookie doughs, of course you want to address the fact that overhandling them is a bad thing. But cookie doughs are more forgiving than say, pie doughs,

scone doughs, muffin batters, and biscuit doughs. With those, you want the least bit of handling.

A couple of overkneads on a pie dough result in the difference of flaky vs. tough. With cookie dough, one does not need to be quite as careful. A couple extra rotations of the mixer paddle,

or pinching vs. scooping will not affect it adversely. To overhandle a cookie dough, you REALLY

have to overhandle it......which was my basic point. Whether one is a pro or a home baker makes no difference. This info is valuable to both.

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Yes, I agree with you that cookie dough is more forgiving...that's why I have recommended cookie recipes for the beginner, especially drop cookies....

And, yes you REALLY have to overhandle cookie dough from toughness and dryness standpoint (And, when you mix or handle moistened wheat flour extensively you DEVELOP gluten)...thanks for pointing that out from my original post....

Your comments are well-taken.

Edited March 18, 2005 by Sarah Phillips (log)