Cookies

[ALTAF]

Hello,

What kind flour do you like to use for baking cookies? and why?

(example: cake flour, all-purpose, whole wheat.......etc)

What i want to point is: what makes the cookie tender? i've heard it's the kind of flour.

[Swisskaese]

I always use all-purpose flour for cookies. I think that the type of fat you use is one of the factors in a tender cookie.

Did you have a problem?

[chefcyn]

Cake flour will give you a somewhat tender cookie, but there are a lot of other factors involved. The sugar(brown or white) the fat( butter or shortening) whether it has any liquid in it(milk or water or whatever) and how much you mix the dough, whether it has time to chill in the refrigerator, or is made immediately. Each recipe will have its own characteristics--so what kind of cookie do you want to make, and I can suggest a method to get the results you want.

[Ling]

I use AP for my cookies if the recipe does not specify. I use AP + a bit of cornstarch for shortbread.

[ALTAF]

Generaly speaking: drop cookies.

[maui420]

how about bread flour for the basic chocolate chip cookie?

[Ling]

I've seen some recipes that call for bread flour for CC cookies (like Alton Brown's "Chewy CC" recipe). I imagine the higher amount of gluten may add to the chewiness? Shortbread, on the other hand, should be tender, which is why I reduce the gluten by cutting the AP flour with cornstarch.

Edited November 28, 2005 by Ling (log)

[Beanie]

I've seen some recipes that call for bread flour for CC cookies (like Alton Brown's "Chewy CC" recipe). I imagine the higher amount of gluten may add to the chewiness?  Shortbread, on the other hand, should be tender, which is why I reduce the gluten by cutting the AP flour with cornstarch.

←

For shortbread, I use a combination of all purpose and rice flour. 75% AP to 25%rice. I've used volume as well as weight measurement with no appreciable difference. I've tried it with white rice flour and brown rice flour (usually Bob's Red Mill) and both are good. I love the texture from the rice flour. I first learned about this combo in a Craig Claiborne column, NY Times, sometime in the 1970s. I still have the clipping someplace in one of my piles of papers...

[Ling]

I use rice flour sometimes too. But the cornstarch is already on the counter, whereas to get the rice flour, I have to hunt around in the pantry...so I end up using cornstarch 90% of the time.

[skyflyer3]

I've seen some recipes that call for bread flour for CC cookies (like Alton Brown's "Chewy CC" recipe). I imagine the higher amount of gluten may add to the chewiness?  Shortbread, on the other hand, should be tender, which is why I reduce the gluten by cutting the AP flour with cornstarch.

←

For shortbread, I use a combination of all purpose and rice flour. 75% AP to 25%rice. I've used volume as well as weight measurement with no appreciable difference. I've tried it with white rice flour and brown rice flour (usually Bob's Red Mill) and both are good. I love the texture from the rice flour. I first learned about this combo in a Craig Claiborne column, NY Times, sometime in the 1970s. I still have the clipping someplace in one of my piles of papers...

←

Yeah, I use bread flour for my chocolate chip cookies as well, per Alton's suggestion. I also use rice flour for my shortbread (I buy it from Trader Joe's or from the Asian supermarket very readily). Got the rice flour suggestion from Marian Burros' Comfort Food Cookbook.

[etalanian]

Unbleached AP flour is great for use in chewy type cookies, and bleached AP is good for cookies with a more delicate flavor, or crispy texture. I use a little cornstarch in my shortbread, along with bleached AP so they are really tender. Bread flour will give you a more pronounced chew in chewy type cookies.