Chewy vs. Crunchy Round 2

The conversation continues regarding a 'chewy' chocolate chip cookie and a 'crunchy' chocolate chip cookie.  The following question was posed by my cousin Mike.  My response follows.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve always been under the impression that if you fill a pan with water (doesn't get any moister than that, lol) and you put it in an oven, no matter what temperature you heat it at the water will evaporate and the only thing that determines how much moisture is left in the pan is how long you leave it in the oven.


Of course different ingredients release their moisture at different rates depending on the temperature and time spent baking.


Texture, like smooth or grainy, and flavor are about the ingredients. Using nuts will make the texture crunchier, while raisins would make the same cookie chewier, but the moistness of the cookie dough still depends on how long you bake it. . . am i wrong?  Mike

**********

You're not wrong Mike. In theory yes, the less you bake a cookie the chewier/softer it will be. And you are on the right track about different ingredients releasing their moisture at different points in the baking process. But the quantity of different ingredients matters as well.

For instance, in my 'chewy' chocolate chip cookie, I had more eggs and butter than my 'crunchy' chocolate chip cookie AND in the 'chewy' I used all brown sugar, (as opposed to half and half - brown to white, in my crunchy cookie). Brown sugar has more moisture in it because of the molasses in that product.  Eggs, butter and sugar are all considered the 'wet' ingredients. So by adding more of these ingredients into a cookie dough, they will be more moist and create a chewier cookie.  (The more eggs will make the cookies more cake like as well.)

I hope this helps.  Below are my two recipes I use for my chewy and crunchy chocolate chip cookies.   Try them for yourself or maybe just compare them to the recipes you use.

Talk to you soon and thanks for the chat. It’s been fun!

Sharon

The Ultimate "Crunchy" Chocolate Chip Cookie

6 oz butter at room temp, 1 ½  sticks 2/3 cups granulated sugar 2/3 cups brown sugar 1 ½  vanilla extract 1 eggs

2 cups all purpose flour 1 tsp baking soda ¼  tsp salt 12 oz semi-sweet chips 1 cups chopped nuts if desired

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Yield:  approximately 2 ½ dozen cookies

Beat the butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl on medium speed.  Mix in the flour, soda and salt.  Add the chocolate chips and if using, the nuts. 

Using a 1 ½ inch ice cream scoop, drop scoops on a parchment lined sheet pan.  With your finger tips, gently press the tops of the cookies….but do not flatten. 

Bake approximately 12 minutes.  Rotate the sheet pan after 8 minutes.  Cool 1 to 2 minutes then remove the cookies to a cooling rack.

The Ultimate "Chewy" Chocolate Chip Cookie

8 oz room temp butter (1/2 lb.) 1 ½ cups brown sugar 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 12 oz chocolate 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Yields:  approximately 30 to 35 cookies

Mix the dry ingredients together and set aside.  Cream the butter and brown sugar until fluffy and soft.  Add the eggs and the vanilla and beat well.  Add the dry ingredients and incorporate fully. 

Using a 1 ½ inch ice cream scoop, drop scoops on a parchment lined sheet pan.  With your finger tips, gently press the tops of the cookies….but do not flatten.  Bake on a parchment lined sheet tray at 400 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.  Rotate as needed.

Cool completely.  Store in an air tight container.

Banana Muffins!!

Banana Muffins!!  WHAT, that's not a cookie.  How does Daniel's Cookies! fit in with banana muffins.  Okay, so now you know this blog is not JUST about cookies.  Its about baking.  Something I LOVE to do.  So here me out.

I have about a dozen frozen banana's in my freezer and I was getting (dare I say) bored with banana bread.  Don't get me wrong, I love a good banana bread.  My very first banana bread recipe came from Mrs. Green, my good friend Luann's mom.  Luann and I went to high school together and are still friends to this day....!!!  Mrs. Green was a great baker and shared with me her Zucchini Bread recipe too.  OR... maybe its just the STORY of Mrs. Green's Zucchini Bread that I'm thinking of.  Luann and I and Luann's husband Ernie, DEVOURING one of her mother's Zucchini Breads after having one too many drinks after a softball game.  The bread was left in Luann's car and as we left the softball game (and the bar), Ernie and I started tearing to shreds the Zucchini Bread and eating it like there was no tomorrow.  Crumbs EVERYWHERE, and who really cared anyway.  What a riot and what a memory!  We laugh to this day when we talk about Zucchini Bread.

But I digress.  Back to the Banana Muffins.  So I really didn't want to make another banana bread right now and I just felt like I was in the mood for a good muffin. Thanks to the internet and a google search I found the answer to my craving.  Now mind you I have a gazillion baking books in my possession, but I didn't feel like searching through them and since I don't have a banana muffin recipe in my repertoire that is right at finger tips, I made the search on the web.  And what a catch it was.  'Clicking' on the first recipe that popped up, and after reading the reviews on it, I decided to try it.  And I must say, its one of the best banana muffins I've had in a long time.  I'll be typing up this recipe and saving it in my portfolio.

My only issue at hand is that this recipe made 12 regular size muffins, which really isn't an issue at all, but since there's only my husband and I at home, 12 muffins is really a bit much.  We don't NEED to be eating 12 muffins between the two of us, but what can I say, we will.

When making muffins, do not over mix your batter.  You're looking for a moist, light muffin.  Over mixing will result in something that is dense and chewy.  Just fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until JUST combined.  I didn't even use a mixer for this recipe, that's how simple it is.  When I make a recipe for the first time, I almost always make it as stated.  Not deviating from the original recipe until I've made it at least once.  I did not heed that advice of mine this time and my gut instincts paid off.  After reviewing this recipe, it seemed a little bland, so my tweak to this recipe was adding a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a half teaspoon of cinnamon as well as using 4 large banana's instead of the three.  The more the banana flavor the better I say!!  Enjoy!  Sharon

  These muffins baked up perfectly! You can't go wrong.  Here's the link:

                         http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Muffins-II/Detail.aspx
 

Finicky Ovens

Although my challenge can sometimes be finding the perfect chocolate chip cookie, I have another challenge to tackle any time I plan on baking a batch of cookies.  It's my oven.  Its relatively new but I find it quirky to say the least.  These new fangled, computerized control panels make me nervous.  For me, its my oven temperature.  It seems to fluctuate, up and down and all around.  It drives me crazy and is turning my hair gray with worry.  I just can't count on a batch of cookies coming out the same twice.  I cringe sometimes at the thought of checking on a batch that is baking.  I wonder what my cookies are going to look like once I open the oven door.  Sometimes they're perfect, but sometimes they are either 'melting' because the oven temp has dropped, or they are 'golden brown'....you know what I mean, burnt.  Uhggg...

My motto or mantra that I always rely on...........perseverance, never give up.

Chocolate chip cookie anyone????

Chewy vs Crunchy????  That's the question.  I'm talking about a good chocolate chip cookie and what your preference is.  I took a poll with my friends and family and the results were mixed but only to a certain degree.  Chewy won out, second was chewy on the inside, crunchy on the outside and then a lone few who liked crunchy all by itself.  Of course some of those answering my poll had their take on walnuts vs. pecans as well as the amount of chocolate chips in the cookie.  I was surprised to see a few respond that the fewer the chocolate chips the better.  WHAT???  MY preference is the more chocolate chips the better!

I promised those who responded by sending me their address' some samples. And its time I come through.  I have a good recipe I like that produces a a nice crunchy cookie but I'm still searching for that perfect chewy cookie.  I have a few recipes that I like but I would like to narrow it down to just one.  Most people think that all you have to do to get a chewy cookie is just under-bake it.  In reality, the more moisture in the cookie the chewier it will be.  But then again, if you do under bake a cookie, in essence, it will be chewy, and yet if you over bake a cookie, in essence, it will definitely be crunchy.  (Although more likely than not its burnt.)

Well, its time to get my butter out of the fridge and get it to room temp!!!  Let the baking begin.