Preparation of Cookies

1. Preparation of Cookies Cookie means small cake.

2. Four Cookie CharacteristicsCrispness-Softness-Chewiness-Spread • Crispness: • Low proportion of liquid in the mix. Stiff dough. • High sugar and fat content. Make it possible to mix a workable dough with low moisture content. • Baking long enough to evaporate most of the moisture • Small size, thin shape, cookie dries faster during baking. • Proper size, crisp cookies can become soft if they absorb moisture.

3. Cookie characteristics contd… • Softness: • High proportion of liquid • Low sugar and fat • Honey, molasses, or corn syrup in the formulas • Underbaking • Large size or thick shape so that they retain more moisture • Proper storage. Soft cookies can become stale and dry if not tightly covered or wrapped

4. Cookie Characteristics contd… • Chewiness: • High sugar and liquid content, but low fat content • High proportion of eggs • Strong flour or gluten developed during mixing

5. Cookie Characteristics contd… • Spread: Several factors contribute to spread or lack of it. Sugar- High sugar content increases spread Leavening- Baking, soda/powder, encourages spread Creaming- The creaming together of fat and sugar contributes to leavening by incorporating air. Creaming a mixture until light increases spread. Blending fat and sugar just to a paste (without creaming in a lot of air) reduces spread Temperature- Low oven temperature increases spread. High temperatures decreases spread because the cookie sets up before it has a chance to spread too much Liquid- High liquid content, spreads more than a stiff dough Flour- Strong flour or activation of gluten decreases spread

6. Three Mixing MethodsOne Stage-Cream -Sponge • One Stage Mixing Method: Low moisture cookies where all ingredients are mixed at once. • Measure ingredients accurately. Have all ingredients at room temperature. • Mix the ingredients until uniformly blended. • Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary.

7. Mixing Methods: Creaming method • 1. Measure ingredients accurately. Have all ingredients at room temperature • 2. Place the fat, sugar, salt, and spices in the mixing bowl. Cream these ingredients. For light cookies, cream until mix is light and fluffy, in order to incorporate more air for leavening. For denser cookies, blend to a smooth paste, but do not cream until light. • 3. Add the eggs and liquid, if any, and blend in a low speed • Sift in the flour and leavening. Mix until just combined. Do not over mix, or gluten will develop

8. Mixing Methods: Sponge method • Measure all ingredients accurately. Have all ingredients at room temperature • 2. Following the procedure given in the formula used, whip the eggs and the sugar to the proper stage: soft peaks for whites, thick, and light for whole eggs and yolks. • 3. Fold in the remaining ingredients as specified in the recipe. Be careful not to over mix or to deflate the eggs.

9. Six Types of Cookies • Cookies are generally grouped into six different types. • No matter what types of cookie you are making one important rule applies: • Make all cookies a uniform size and thickness. • Also if the tops of cookies are to be garnished with fruits, nuts or other items place the garnish on the cookies as soon as they are in the pan and press down gently. If you wait too long the dough begins to dry and the garnish may not stick and will fall off while baking.

10. Bagged • Bagged or pressed cookies are made from soft doughs. • The dough must be soft enough to be forced through a pastry bag but stiff enough to hold its shape.

11. Dropped • Dough that contains pieces of fruit, nuts, or chocolate would clog the pastry tube. • Drop the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets and allow enough space between cookies for spreading. • Rich cookies spread by themselves, but if the formula requires it, flatten the mounds of batter slightly with a weight dipped in sugar.

12. Rolled • Chill dough thoroughly • Roll dough out 3mm thick on a floured canvas and place cookies on prepared sheets. • Cut as close together as possible to reduce the quantity of scraps and roll scraps into fresh dough to minimize toughness. • Baked cutout cookies are often decorated with colored icing for holidays or special occasions.

13. Molded • Refrigerate the dough if it is too soft to handle and roll it out into long cylinders about 1 in. thick, or whatever size is required. • With a knife cut the roll into 15g pieces.\ • Place the pieces on prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 in. space between each. • Flatten the cookies with a weight, such as a can, dipped in granulated sugar before pressing each cookie. • A fork is sometimes used for flattening the dough.

14. Icebox • The icebox or refrigerator method is ideal for operations that wish to have freshly baked cookies on hand. • The rolls of dough may be made up in advance and baked as needed. • Cookies can easily be cut and baked as needed.

15. Bar • This type of cookie is baked in a baking pan and later cut crosswise and lengthwise into bars. • Spread dough into sheet pan • Flatten dough with fingers • Bake as directed • After baking, while still warm cut into bars generally 1 ¼” x 3”

16. Preparing the Pan • Use clean unwarped pan. • Line with parchment paper or grease. • Heavily greased pans cause spreading • A greased/floured pan decreases spreading • High fat cookies can be baked on ungreased pans.

17. Baking • Most cookies are baked at a relatively high temprature for a short time. • If the temperature is to high the bottom and sides of the cookie may burn • Too low a temperature increases spreading and can produce, hard, dry and pale cookies • Cookies continue to bake if they are left on the pan after being taken out of the oven

18. Baking contd… • Doneness is indicated by color. The edges and bottom should be turning a light golden color. • Excessive browning is undesirable. This often occurs when cookies have been colored. • To prevent burning the bottom of cookies with a large fat content you can double the pan by placing a sheet pan of the same size under the cookie sheet.

19. Cooling • Remove cookies from the pan while they are still warm or they will continue to cook or stick to the pan. • If cookies are very soft do not remove from the pan until they are cook and firm enough to handle. • Cookies that are soft when hot often become crisp when cool.

20. Troubleshooting Guide • Too tough • Too crumbly • Too hard • Too dry • Not brown enough • Too Brown • Poor flavor • Surface or crust sugary • Too much spread • Not enough spread • Stick to pan

21. General Instructions Preheat the oven Assemble all utensils and ingredients. Measure ingredients accurately, mixing thoroughly at every step. Baking sheets should be at least 5 centimeters (2 inches) shorter in length and width than the over rack. For browner cookies, use shiny baking sheets. When greasing cookie sheets, leave a 2.5-centimeter (1-inch) margin around the pan. Do not use too much grease. Bake cookies with a high fat content, such as refrigerator cookies, on ungreased sheets. Shape cookies so that are uniform in size and thickness.

22. General Instructions Contd… • Chilling the dough first will make rolling easier. Roll dough from the center out in all directions so that it is even in thickness. Use just enough flour to make rolling the dough easy. Too much flour will make the cookies dry and hard. When using cookie cutters, flour them slightly after each cutting • Cut cookies close together to make as many as possible before rolling the dough a second time. Rerolling makes cookies less tender. • Bake a test cookie first. If the cookie comes out too thin, add a little flour to the rest of the dough. Then arrange cookies in rows on sheets, allowing enough room for them to spread out. • For even baking, space the pans so that one pan is not directly over another on a lower rack. • Test cookies for doneness when the minimum baking time is up: • Bar cookies- pulled away from sides of pan • Drop cookies- when pressed with a finger, they spring back • Refrigerator cookies and pressed cookies- light brown around the edges • Rolled cookies- light brown, firm to the touch • Molded cookies- firm, sometimes slightly crumbly