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On Tue, 25 Apr 2006 01:02:08 -0000,
(Alex Rast) wrote:

>at Mon, 24 Apr 2006 18:17:07 GMT in
>, (andrew
>queisser) wrote :
>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>How do I achieve the crunchiness of storebought cookies? I have no
>>problem making flaky or chewy cookies but somehow that really dry crunch
>>is something I can't seem to achieve. Any recommendations, specifically:
>>
>>- fat/flour/sugar ratio
>
>Use butter, which generally leads to crisper cookies, all things being
>equal. Also, you're forgetting another key ingredient, which often seems to
>be overlooked (see my various posts on soft, all-butter chocolate chip
>cookies, where I talk about this more): eggs. Mimimise egg content for
>crunchy cookies. Don't go crazy on the sugar either, both because a lot of
>sugar leads to softer, chewier results, and because sugar, being
>hygroscopic, makes cookies that much softer with time, as the sugar absorbs
>humidity in the air. (That wouldn't apply of course if you lived in
>Arizona)
>
>>- processing/kneading technique
>
>Not many things you do will affect *crunchiness* per se. However, vigourous
>kneading will develop gluten in flour, increasing chewiness, Creaming
>butter reduces density and makes the cookie a bit drier as well.
>
>>- baking temperature
>
>High temperature promotes a crisp outer shell but a moister, softer middle.
>Low temperature makes for drier cookies at the same crispness level, with
>more control over how crisp the cookie is as a whole. *Very* low
>temperatures, however, will prevent surface caramelisation and thus lead to
>washed-out flavour (for most cookies - there are some special cases like
>meringue) along with little crisping.
>
>One other note for crunchiness. Let your cookies sit for several days.
>Cookies generally become crunchier and harder with age (which is one reason
>storebought are usually pretty crunchy - they've been sitting around).
>After 3 days a cookie which started out unacceptably soft might well be
>quite nicely crunchy.
>
>>
>>What I'm actually after is getting a crunchy shell to fill with a
>>maccaroon mixture.
>
>Do you want something that is like a nest (a disc with a hollow in it) or
>more like an actual shell (something with a big void in the middle that you
>could e.g. pipe a filling into)? Your macaroon mixture could be appropriate
>in either case. I will say that when I heard what you're doing my thoughts
>immediately gravitated towards meringues.

Alex, nice answer. I was going to reply with some of these, but you
had even more than I thought of.