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The Key to baking perfect cookies |
Article Submitted by: Samuel Brown
Friday, 30 July 2010
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Nothing tastes better than a perfectly baked homemade cookie, but unfortunately baking cookies to perfection is not a simple science for most people. There are so many things that can go wrong resulting in you not getting the desired outcome. In this article we'll be looking at some tips that can help you to avoid being in this undesirable situation. One of the main reasons that a cookie doesn't come out perfectly is because most people don't understand the part that each individual ingredient plays in baking, fortunately I have listed the roles of each of the main ingredients. Butter: This is one of many fats that can be used for baking, others include shortening and margarine, however butter is the most popular one of them all. You can either use salted or unsalted butter, but that depends on the type of flavor that you prefer. Butter has a massive role in baking, it has a direct effect on the color, texture, tenderness and the flavor of the cookie. Flour: There are several types of flour that can be used for baking and these include all-purpose flour, cake flour, pastry flour, self-rising flour and bread flour. It is important to use the flour specified in a recipe as they all have different protein content. All-purpose flour is usually used for baking cookies, it has a protein content of 10-12%. When flour comes into contact with water its proteins produce gluten, this holds all the ingredients together and supports the batter. Milk: This is a dairy product, and another key ingredient of cookie batter. Most cookie recipes use either sour milk or butter milk. Sour milk is basically milk that has had a tea spoon of vinegar or lemon juice added to it, this causes it to curdle. While butter milk is the sour tasting liquid that that is left over from churned milk or cream. Butter milk can also be made by adding bacteria to fat free or reduced fat milk. Milk adds moisture to the cookie and also has an effect on its texture and flavour. Eggs: These act as a leavening agent by incorporating gas bubbles into the cookie dough. The yolk also has an effect on the flavor, feel and color of the baked cookie. Like butter the yolk has a high fat content which means it can increase the richness of a cookie as well. Eggs also play a part in slowing down the amount of time it takes for a cookie to go stale. Understanding the roles of some of the key baking ingredients will increase your chances of baking the perfect cookie... best of luck with your future baking ventures! Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com |
About The Author:
Samuel Brown is the owner of MyCookieCutters.com , the one stop shop for all your cookie cutter needs. He is also a keen baker, and when he is not baking he's probably writing about it!
Samuel Brown is the owner of MyCookieCutters.com , the one stop shop for all your cookie cutter needs. He is also a keen baker, and when he is not baking he's probably writing about it!
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