GOOD FOODIE: Tips For Making The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Monday, August 7, 2017

Tips For Making The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

1. Make sure your ingredients (and your oven) are at the right temperature.

Surprise! Your oven may be lying to you. Even though you've set it to 350°F, the oven temperature is often off, which can lead to burnt or underdone cookies. Invest in an oven thermometer and your cooking overall is bound to improve.
When it comes to cookie ingredients, generally the eggs should be at room temperature and the butter should be soft, taken out of the fridge about an hour before you get to work. Really cold butter or melted butter will throw off the texture.

2. Use the right amount of chocolate.

"There has to be a good ratio of chocolate to cookie dough; not TOO much chocolate but just enough," pastry chef and baking instructor Gesine Bullock-Prado advises. "No more than one cup of chips per one cup of flour. That seems to be the golden ratio. I like using good-quality chocolate in bars and chopping it into chunks rather than using chips."

3. Use more brown sugar for a chewier cookie.

"If you want a chocolate chip cookie that spreads less and stays chewy, back off on the granulated sugar and add more brown sugar," Bullock-Prado says. "The molasses in brown sugars adds moisture."

4. Don't forget the salt.

A little bit of salt actually brings out the sweetness of the cookie, and keeps it from tasting bland. A batch of cookies can greatly benefit from 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

5. Properly measure your ingredients.

This seems like a no-brainer, but the truth is, many home bakers don't properly measure the flour, which can make baked goods tough. Make sure you use a dry mea suring cup and level off the flour with your finger or a knife; no heaping mountains of flour!

6. Chill the dough.

Here's where you need to exercise some patience. You should chill your dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to keep the cookie from spreading too thin. Ideally, Bullock-Prado says, you actually want to chill the dough overnight.
"Chilling even 12 hours adds depth of flavor, an almost caramel type flavor, to the finished cookie," she explains. That gives plenty of time for all the ingredients to marry and ultimately, will take your cookies from good to great. If you really just need a cookie, do what I do and bake one off to satisfy your craving, put the rest of the dough in the fridge, and bake up the full batch the next day.

7. The more you know…

Knowing how different ingredients contribute to the equation can help you customize your cookies to your desired texture and taste. Bullock-Prado shared a little cheat-sheet:

Granulated sugar promotes spreading and crispness.
Shortening will make for a crunchier cookie because it lacks milk solids (sugars and proteins), while the water present in butter adds moisture.
The molasses in brown sugar also adds moisture, leading to a chewier cookie.
Use a higher protein all-purpose flour for extra chew and structure.

Enjoy! Eat well my friends!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Food Safety Tips
Protect yourself against food-borne illnesses.

1. Use a "refrigerator thermometer" to keep your food stored at a safe temperature (below 40 degrees fahrenheit).

Cold temperatures slow the growth of bacteria. Ensuring that your refrigerator temperature stays at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or colder is one of the most effective ways to reduce your risk of food-borne illness. You can buy a refrigerator/freezer thermometer at appliance stories, home centers (i.e. Home Depot), and kitchen stores including online ones, such as Cooking.com.

2. Defrost food in the refrigerator, the microwave, or in cold water... never on the counter!

Perishable foods should never be thawed on the counter for longer than two hours because, while the center of the food may remain frozen, the outer surface may enter the Danger Zone, the range of temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees fahrenheit, in which bacteria multiply rapidly. If you’re short on time, use the microwave or you can thaw meat and poultry in airtight packaging in cold water. Change the water every half-hour so it stays cold and use the thawed food immediately.

3. Always use separate cutting boards for raw meat/poultry/fish and cooked foods/fresh produce.

Bacteria from uncooked meat, poultry, and fish can contaminate cooked foods and fresh produce. An important way to reduce this risk is to use separate cutting boards for raw meat/poultry/ fish, and cooked foods/fresh produce.

4. Always cook meat to proper temperatures, using a calibrated instant-read thermometer to make sure.

One effective way to prevent illness is to use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature of meat, poultry, and egg dishes. The USDA Recommended Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures are as follows:

* Beef, veal, and lamb (steaks and roasts), fish - 145 degrees fahrenheit

* Pork and ground beef - 160 degrees fahrenheit

* Poultry - 165 degrees fahrenheit.

Cook meats like roasts and steaks to lower temperatures, closer to medium-rare, so that they retain their moisture. It is recommended that those who are at high risk for developing food-borne illness (i.e. pregnant women and their unborn babies, newborns, young children, older adults, people with weakened immune systems, or certain chronic illnesses) should follow the USDA guidelines.

5. Avoid unpasteurized/raw milk and cheeses made from unpasteurized milk that are aged less than 60 days.

Raw milk is milk from cows, sheep, or goats that has not been pasteurized (heated to a very high temperature for a specific length of time) to kill harmful bacteria that may be present. These bacteria, which include salmonella, E. coli and listeria, can cause serious illness and sometimes even death. The bacteria in raw milk can be especially dangerous to pregnant women, children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems or chronic illnesses. Raw milk cheeses aged 60 days or longer are okay, since the salt and acidity of the cheese-making process make for a hostile environment to pathogens.

6. Never eat "runny" eggs or foods, such as cookie dough, that contain raw eggs.

Even eggs that have clean, intact shells may be contaminated with salmonella, so it’s important to cook eggs thoroughly until both the yolk and the white are firm. Casseroles and other dishes containing eggs should be cooked to 160 degrees fahrenheit and you can use an instant-read food thermometer to check. Eggs should always be cooked fully and those who are at high risk for developing foodborne illness (pregnant women and their unborn babies, newborns, young children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems or certain chronic illnesses should follow the USDA guidelines. If you can’t resist runny eggs or sampling cookie batter, use pasteurized eggs. They’re found near other eggs in large supermarkets.

7. Always wash your hands in warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds before handling food and after touching raw meat, poultry, or eggs.

You can pick up a lot of bacteria out in the world, so it’s important to always wash your hands before you eat or prepare food. You should also wash your hands after touching any uncooked meat, poultry, fish, or eggs, as the bacteria from these foods can contaminate cooked foods and fresh produce. Use soap and warm water and wash thoroughly for at least 20 seconds.

8. Always heat leftover foods to 165 degrees fahrenheit.

The USDA recommends heating all cooked leftovers to 165 degrees fahrenheit in order to kill all potentially dangerous bacteria.

9. Never eat meat, poultry, eggs, or sliced fresh fruits and vegetables that have been left out for more than two hours or more than one hour in temperatures hotter than 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you leave perishable foods out of the refrigerator or freezer for more than two hours they may enter the Danger Zone—the unsafe temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, in which bacteria multiply rapidly.

10. Whenever there’s a food recall, check products stored at home to make sure they are safe.

You should discard any food that’s been recalled because it’s associated with the outbreak of a food-borne illness. But, according to a survey conducted by Rutgers University during the fall of 2008, only about 60% of Americans search their homes for foods that have been recalled because of contamination. For more information on food recalls, visit the website Recalls.gov

ABOUT ME

Keith

I am a native of Philadelphia PA, USA; attended Darby-Colwyn High School 1973-76; attended Shippensburg University and majored in Journalism 1976-81; charter member of Kappa Omega Chapter, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity; served in US Air Force Reserves 1984-2006. I'm also a husband, father, and grandfather. My birthday is March 24th and my sun sign is Aries (The Ram). And, just so we're clear, let's establish from the door, Aries rules! Okay?

View my complete profile...