I've been experimenting w/choc. chip cookies for years (even picked up
a cookbook dedicated to them and have tried at least 10 recipes), and I
still haven't figured out how to bake those big, thick chewy ones
without resorting to vegetable shortening. (And even those weren't
that good.) I tried refrigerating the dough and using bigger globs,
but the insides remained doughy.

Anyone have any cookie secrets they'd be willing to share?

Would a particular type of cookie pan help, maybe? (Grasping at straws
here...)

Karen MacInerney
Kitchen experimenter, family chauffeur and culinary mystery author

On Fri 04 Nov 2005 08:09:45a, Karen MacInerney wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> I've been experimenting w/choc. chip cookies for years (even picked up
> a cookbook dedicated to them and have tried at least 10 recipes), and I
> still haven't figured out how to bake those big, thick chewy ones
> without resorting to vegetable shortening. (And even those weren't
> that good.) I tried refrigerating the dough and using bigger globs,
> but the insides remained doughy.
>
> Anyone have any cookie secrets they'd be willing to share?
>
> Would a particular type of cookie pan help, maybe? (Grasping at straws
> here...)
>
> Karen MacInerney
> Kitchen experimenter, family chauffeur and culinary mystery author

Vegetable shortening, or part vegetable shortening; a bit more sugar;
chilled dough; form cookies into a high round ball.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974

Karen MacInerney wrote:
> I've been experimenting w/choc. chip cookies for years (even picked up
> a cookbook dedicated to them and have tried at least 10 recipes), and I
> still haven't figured out how to bake those big, thick chewy ones
> without resorting to vegetable shortening. (And even those weren't
> that good.) I tried refrigerating the dough and using bigger globs,
> but the insides remained doughy.
>
> Anyone have any cookie secrets they'd be willing to share?
>
> Would a particular type of cookie pan help, maybe? (Grasping at straws
> here...)
>
> Karen MacInerney

I use this one - BUT, I have found that when they are super fresh or
even one day old, if they have been sealed up after cooling, they will
stay soft. Anything older than 1 day gets crisp.

I printed a new recipe that said "soft" at rec.food.recipes the other
day, but haven't tried it - it had sour cream in it.

Anyway, try this and if there are leftovers after a day, resign
yourself to freezing them in air-tight packages.

Nancy's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 stick oleo (Blue Bonnet - Best for Baking) and ½ stick salted or
unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm
1 C. light brown sugar
½ C. white sugar
1 extra large or jumbo egg, plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla (I used a scant T.)
2 C. plus 2 T. flour (white, bleached, all-purpose)
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. soda
1 12-oz. pkg. semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

Put the melted butter and the sugars in a mixing bowl. Mix until
thoroughly blended. (I beat at a high speed for a couple minutes. This
also helps the melted shortening cool slightly.) Add the egg, egg
yolk, and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Put the flour, salt and soda in
a bowl and whisk or sift once. Add the dry ingredients to the sugar
mixture and mix thoroughly. Stir in chips by hand.

Line cookie sheets with baking parchment. Make drop cookies on cookie
sheets. Bake at 325 deg. for 13 minutes (check at 11 minutes).
Cookies should be slightly brown on the peaks and edges, and light
colored and soft in the center.

Remove from oven, leave on cookie sheets and cool. Do not put new
batches on hot cookie sheets; make sure sheets have cooled before
reusing.

This recipe makes about 36-40 cookies.

Store in airtight container with waxed paper between layers. The baked
cookies can be frozen. The raw dough can be frozen in an airtight
container for up to two weeks. Thaw it in the refrigerator. Thaw
baked cookies at room temperature.

Instead of chocolate chips, use chunks of white chocolate (6 oz.) and
macademia nuts (about 3/4 cup, cut into coarse bits) (or use
proportions of chocolate and nuts to taste).

For the choc. chips, you can substitute 1 C. quick-cooking oatmeal and
1 C. raisins, plumped 5 minutes in boiling water. Add 1/4 tsp.
cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg to the batter.

You can also substitute 1 ½ pkg. (about 18 oz.) of brickle bits and
3/4 C. coarsely chopped pecans for the choc. chips.

"Karen MacInerney" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> I've been experimenting w/choc. chip cookies for years (even picked up
> a cookbook dedicated to them and have tried at least 10 recipes), and I
> still haven't figured out how to bake those big, thick chewy ones
> without resorting to vegetable shortening. (And even those weren't
> that good.) I tried refrigerating the dough and using bigger globs,
> but the insides remained doughy.
>
> Anyone have any cookie secrets they'd be willing to share?
>
> Would a particular type of cookie pan help, maybe? (Grasping at straws
> here...)
>
> Karen MacInerney
> Kitchen experimenter, family chauffeur and culinary mystery author
>

Bake them at 300 for around 20 to 24 minutes. They stay soft but get cooked
all the way thru.

Ms P

"Karen MacInerney" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> I've been experimenting w/choc. chip cookies for years (even picked up
> a cookbook dedicated to them and have tried at least 10 recipes), and I
> still haven't figured out how to bake those big, thick chewy ones
> without resorting to vegetable shortening. (And even those weren't
> that good.) I tried refrigerating the dough and using bigger globs,
> but the insides remained doughy.
>
> Anyone have any cookie secrets they'd be willing to share?
>
> Would a particular type of cookie pan help, maybe? (Grasping at straws
> here...)
>
> Karen MacInerney
> Kitchen experimenter, family chauffeur and culinary mystery author


For a standard recipe, there are a few things you can do to make them
chewier. First, substitue all or most of the white sugar for brown. You can
also sub part of the flour for oatmeal "flour"...just use your food
processor to grind oats to a powder.
Or, you can try this recipe from Alton Brown, who did a show educating us
about the different techniques that will lead to thin n' crispy, fat and
soft, or chewy cookies.
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Hardwa
Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
Parchment paper
Baking sheets
Mixer


Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift
together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown
sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2
tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly
incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the
chocolate chips.

Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies
per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies
after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely
and store in an airtight container.

HTH,
kimberly
>

Nexis wrote on 04 Nov 2005 in rec.food.cooking

> "Karen MacInerney" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > I've been experimenting w/choc. chip cookies for years (even picked up
> > a cookbook dedicated to them and have tried at least 10 recipes), and I
> > still haven't figured out how to bake those big, thick chewy ones
> > without resorting to vegetable shortening. (And even those weren't
> > that good.) I tried refrigerating the dough and using bigger globs,
> > but the insides remained doughy.
> >
> > Anyone have any cookie secrets they'd be willing to share?
> >
> > Would a particular type of cookie pan help, maybe? (Grasping at straws
> > here...)
> >
> > Karen MacInerney
> > Kitchen experimenter, family chauffeur and culinary mystery author
>

Damsel Posted a recipe for Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies a while
ago...they are quite nice and possibly what you are looking for... very
soft and chewy...


* Exported from MasterCook *

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies 1

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
8 ounces sour cream
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 cups flour
12 ounces chocolate chips
1 cup nuts -- (optional)

1. Combine ingredients in order given.

2. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto baking sheet.

3. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes.

Note: The bad news is, these don't keep well. The good news is, they won't
have to!

Contributor: Jackie Fast



Converted by MC_Buster.



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 10626 Calories; 474g Fat (39.0%
calories from fat); 148g Protein; 1516g Carbohydrate; 56g Dietary Fiber;
949mg Cholesterol; 5235mg Sodium. Exchanges: 39 1/2 Grain(Starch); 6 Lean
Meat; 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 89 1/2 Fat; 59 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.


Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0



--
The eyes are the mirrors....
But the ears...Ah the ears.
The ears keep the hat up.

> Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 10626 Calories; 474g Fat

Wow. That's some cookie.

I started using oat flour for some of the flour years ago, and I like
not just the texture, but the taste. (I have a recipe in the next book
that comes out that's for oatmeal chocolate chippers; they're chewy,
but thin.) I cut the shortening b/c of the big trans fat thing;
besides, Mrs. Fields' cookies are great, and they don't use any
shortening! Sour cream might be an interesting twist, although I always
thought that would make them 'cakey'.

I didn't know about the sugar, though. Interesting; I would have
thought brown sugar would make them chewier.

Back to the kitchen for me!

Karen MacInerney
Kitchen experimenter, family chauffeur, and culinary mystery author

Karen MacInerney wrote on 05 Nov 2005 in rec.food.cooking

> I didn't know about the sugar, though. Interesting; I would have
> thought brown sugar would make them chewier.
>

Some corn syrup in your dough will make them softer & chewier as well...

The corn syrup caramelizes (browns-up) faster than sugar does...making them
brown up nicely with less baking time...which makes for a softer chewier
cookie.

--
The eyes are the mirrors....
But the ears...Ah the ears.
The ears keep the hat up.

"Mr Libido Incognito" > wrote in message
...
> Karen MacInerney wrote on 05 Nov 2005 in rec.food.cooking
>
>> I didn't know about the sugar, though. Interesting; I would have
>> thought brown sugar would make them chewier.
>>
>
> Some corn syrup in your dough will make them softer & chewier as well...
>
> The corn syrup caramelizes (browns-up) faster than sugar does...making
> them
> brown up nicely with less baking time...which makes for a softer chewier
> cookie.
>
> --
> The eyes are the mirrors....
> But the ears...Ah the ears.
> The ears keep the hat up.

Soft and chewy are two different cookies. Which are these? Soft cookies are
more puffy/cakey/spongey. Chewy cookies are toothsome and caramel-y in
texture, which what I'm very fond of. Brownies and cookies both.

kimberly

Karen MacInerney wrote:
>>Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 10626 Calories; 474g Fat
>
> Wow. That's some cookie.
>
> I started using oat flour for some of the flour years ago, and I like
> not just the texture, but the taste. (I have a recipe in the next book
> that comes out that's for oatmeal chocolate chippers; they're chewy,
> but thin.) I cut the shortening b/c of the big trans fat thing;
> besides, Mrs. Fields' cookies are great, and they don't use any
> shortening!

Definition time. Shortening in pastry is any fat. They don't use much
hydrogenated vegetable shortening as a direct ingredient. But they do
use some, and they're further in there as part of their ingredient
formulations. They use butter as their major shortening.

From the Mrs. Fields web site:
Ingredients: All cookies contain the following: enriched flour (bleached
wheat flour, barley malt, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate,
riboflavin, folic acid), butter, brown sugar, whole eggs, vanilla, salt,
and baking soda.

All cookies may contain one or more of the following: sugar, semi sweet
chocolate chips [sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, butter oil, soy
lecithin (an emulsifier), salt, vanilla], milk chocolate chips [sugar,
whole milk powder, cocoa butter, chocolate liquor, butter oil, soy
lecithin (an emulsifier), salt, vanilla], macadamia nuts, raisins,
walnuts, peanut butter [peanuts, dextrose, partially hydrogenated
vegetable oil (rapeseed, soybean, and/or cottonseed oils)], pumpkin,
oats, whole milk powder, partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil,
sweetened coconut (coconut, sugar, water, propylene glycol, salt, and
sodium metabisulfite), chocolate liquor (processed with alkali), corn
syrup, invert sugar, cocoa (processed with alkali), spice, coffee
extract, natural flavors, soy lecithin (an emulsifier), wheat fiber,
sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate.

> Sour cream might be an interesting twist, although I always
> thought that would make them 'cakey'.

Not necessarily. Real sour cream (as opposed to commercial stuff with
all the emulsifiers, gums, etc.) will be the addition of more fat and
more water with a little protein. As such, it will emphasize some
characteristics depending on the remaining balance of ingredients. So if
the recipe is already short, the fat will make it more so, but the water
and protein will bring it more to a tender, chewy bite than the
flakiness or granularity of a typical short pastry.

> I didn't know about the sugar, though. Interesting; I would have
> thought brown sugar would make them chewier.

Brown sugar won't make things more chewy than white sugar by an
appreciable amount. The little bit of molasses will have a small effect.
Invert sugars will make things chewier. Corn syrups, etc.

> Back to the kitchen for me!

Time for some fun...

Pastorio

> Karen MacInerney
> Kitchen experimenter, family chauffeur, and culinary mystery author

"Bob (this one)" > wrote in message
...
<snip>
> Brown sugar won't make things more chewy than white sugar by an
> appreciable amount. The little bit of molasses will have a small effect.
> Invert sugars will make things chewier. Corn syrups, etc.

Actually I've found brown sugar makes quite a difference in chewiness, as
well as maintaining the chewy texture after a day or two.

kimberly

>
>> Back to the kitchen for me!
>
> Time for some fun...
>
> Pastorio
>
>> Karen MacInerney
>> Kitchen experimenter, family chauffeur, and culinary mystery author
>