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Last active December 31, 2015 23:28
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Chocolate chip cookie tips from @Thefoodlab
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README.md

THE PROCESS

  1. The dough spreads (things melt).
  2. The edges set (before the center does).
  3. The cookie rises (water from melting reacts with baking soda, which in turn reacts with acids).
  4. Egg proteins and starches set (cookie's shape finalizes).
  5. Sugar caramelizes (producing richer, sweeter flavors).
  6. The Maillard reaction occurs (flour proteins and eggs brown with the sugar, producing nutty, toaster flavors).
  7. The cookie cools (liquefied sugar hardens, producing toffee-like texture).

THE GOAL

"I'm talking chocolate cookies that are barely crisp around the edges with a buttery, toffee-like crunch that transitions into a chewy, moist center that bends like caramel, rich with butter and big pockets of melted chocolate. Cookies with crackly, craggy tops and the complex aroma of butterscotch. And of course, that elusive perfect balance between sweet and salty."

THE RULES

  1. MORE BUTTER = WIDER SPREAD AND MORE TENDERNESS.
  2. BUTTER GIVES THE MOST FLAVOR.
  3. MELTED BUTTER = DENSER COOKIES. CREAMED BUTTER = CAKIER COOKIES.
  4. LESS DISSOLVED SUGAR = LESS CARAMEL FLAVOR.
  5. CREAMED BUTTER = LIGHTER AND FIRMER. MELTED BUTTER = DENSER AND CHEWIER.
  6. EXTRA EGG WHITES = TALLER COOKIES. EXTRA EGG YOLKS = FUDGIER COOKIES.
  7. TOO MUCH DISSOLVED SUGAR = UNIFORM TEXTURE AND LESS CRACKING.
  8. THE WARMER THE BUTTER, THE DENSER THE COOKIE.
  9. WHITE SUGAR = THIN AND CRISP, BROWN SUGAR = TALL AND MOIST.
  10. CORN SYRUP = SOFT, WIDE, DARK, AND FLEXIBLE COOKIES.
  11. SODA = CRAGGY AND COARSE. POWDER = CAKEY AND SMOOTH.
  12. MORE BREAD FLOUR = CHEWIER COOKIES. MORE CAKE FLOUR = SOFTER COOKIES.
  13. LESS FLOUR = LACIER COOKIES. MORE FLOUR = DOUGHIER COOKIES.
  14. LESS KNEADING = CRAGGIER COOKIES AND BETTER TEXTURE.
  15. HAND-CHOPPED CHOCOLATE = MOST INTENSE FLAVOR AND INTERESTING TEXTURE.
  16. STIRRING WARM DOUGH ALTERS CHOCOLATE DISPERSAL.
  17. COOKIES NEED MORE SALT THAN YOU THINK.
  18. INEXPENSIVE VANILLA IS INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM FANCY.
  19. COOLER OVEN = WIDE COOKIES. HOTTER OVEN = COMPACT COOKIES.
  20. WARMER DOUGH = WIDE COOKIES. COOLER DOUGH = COMPACT COOKIES.
  21. AN OVERNIGHT REST YIELDS SUPERIOR FLAVOR.

THE RESULT

(via The Food Lab.)

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