Part of many families' Christmas traditions is cookies. Cookies range in flavor, meaning some ingredients change from cookie to cookie, but most recipes will stay the same for every cookie you encounter. This week in Little Lab Coats, we'll be focusing on a different kind of experiment: baking.
For the first ingredient, we will be investigating well using the recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies there are. These cookies are famous in my school because of how delicious they are. They are named Johnson Cookies because of the family that makes them. I have the gift of being in the same class as one of the Johnsons, meaning I get these cookies often. In most cookie recipes, you find they will include baking soda, baking powder, or both.
Baking soda and baking powder are ingredients found in most recipes for baked goods. They definitely don’t taste good on their own, but when added to a recipe, they are the make-or-break point of the recipe's success. They look almost identical, white powders, and are both leavening agents. They can not be used interchangeably, though.
Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, helps the dough or batter rise because when combined with an acid and a liquid, it produces carbon dioxide. In cookies, it encourages the batter to spread while cooking so you don't have a lump of cookie dough. Baking soda raises the pH of the cookies, which slows down the protein from cooking too fast. Eggs are the biggest source of protein in cookies, and if you've ever cooked eggs before, they get kind of solid pretty fast. If the eggs cook too quickly in the cookies, then the cookies won't spread and won't bake evenly.
Baking powder already has the acid and sodium bicarbonate that is needed to activate. All it needs is a liquid, and it will produce carbon dioxide. Baking powder has baking soda in it, along with powdered acid. Because baking powder combines an acid and a base, you only need a liquid to activate it. This eliminates the need for buttermilk or sour cream for an acid. This gives the cookies a very light and airy texture.
There are very few times when you can substitute baking powder for baking soda. When you cook cookies like lemon crinkles or Snickerdoodles, the substitution will ruin them. If your cookies are chocolate chip or peanut butter, they are already dense, and substituting for baking soda will work out ok. Baking powder is a lot weaker than baking soda, so you have to use about three times the amount. This can change the flavor and will change the texture of your cookies.
The Johnsons Cookies
Ingredients
2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Combine all the dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat the sugars and the butter, then add vanilla and eggs.
Combine the two mixtures.
Use a tablespoon to shape the batter into cookies on a tray with parchment paper.
Bake 9-11 minutes
Enjoy!!
https://www.seriouseats.com/cookie-science-baking-powder#:~:text=Baking%20 powder%20is%20a%20 two,cookies%2C%20cakes%2C%20and%20 pancakes.
Kommentare