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Go back to
Cookies 101 |
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 The
#1 Chocolate Chip Cookie Question:
How to Get Puffy (Not Flat), Chewy (Not Crispy) Chocolate Chip
Cookies: |
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 QUESTION:
How come my chocolate
chip cookies are
flat ?? |
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ANSWER:
In
general, how
a chip
cookie
turns out largely depends on how
the recipe is written. |
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Be careful not to
overmix the chocolate chip cookie dough, otherwise you'll get dry and
tough cookies. |
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 DID
YOU KNOW THAT ?...
Regular chocolate
chips retain their shape when baked. Some substitute them with
chopped-up chocolate bars, which have not been
tempered.
Because of this, they tend to melt and ooze, as well as loose
their shape when baked. |
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The History of the
Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie |
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Don't
over add chocolate chips to the dough. Although the cookies
will taste great, they will not bake properly and will be really hard
to remove from the pan after baking !! (Parchment paper helps).
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Q:
One of the first
steps to do when making chocolate chip cookies is to
cream
the butter and sugar. How long do I do
this for ?
A:
When making chocolate chip cookies, stop
creaming the butter / fat and sugar mixture when it JUST becomes
light and fluffy. Don't overcream because I have found that if
you do, the cookies will first puff in the oven and then fall,
giving you flat ones. |
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I
like
to use a tablespoon of real vanilla extract instead of the
amount specified. Also, always use real vanilla extract because
it tastes better and not "vanillin", sold next to the genuine
article in many grocery stores. |
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If you want the
chocolate
chips in
chocolate chip cookies to retain their shape better, freeze them
before adding to your
cookie or cake batters. |
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Want to make chocolate chip
cookies, but are out of chocolate chips? Some tasty alternatives
that will usually work well mixed into any chocolate chip cookie
recipe include: raisins, craisins (dried cranberries), dates,
coconut, nuts, chopped candy bars, toffee bits and dried fruits. |
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Many of us have had problems with the
Nestle's Toll House Chocolate Chip
Cookie Recipe. We can't
seem to bake puffy and chewy cookies, but we all love the
recipe. I know because
I
get asked about it
frequently. If you like flat and crispy cookies, bake the
recipe as is. If you don't, you can make it BETTER by
following these tips.
However,
the most important thing to remember is that if a recipe is
written to make a puffy cookie, you'll have better success
in getting one than fooling around with an existing recipe
with my tips, below. |
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These
recipes are specifically written to make chewy, puffy and thin
chocolate chip cookies, which makes a big difference in the
outcome. (The
Nestle's Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie
Recipe is written to give you
flatter ones, which you can try and
fix with my tips).
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 Chocolate
Chip Cookie Tips:
I have found that a lot of these tips seem to parallel those
necessary when making a flaky
pie
crust, where all ingredients and
the dough needs to stay chilled. |
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TIP #1:
BUTTER & CREAMING: The
Nestle's recipe calls for creaming the room temperature butter and
sugar.
The goal
is to end up with mixture where the butter
is just light and fluffy, and stays
cold. In general,
if you cream sugar with soft butter or do it too long, the butter
can't form or hold air bubbles, resulting in a flat cookie. If at
any time you get distracted or the dough is becoming too warm,
place in refrigerator as is until chilled.
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 | Start with
CHILLED butter right
from the refrigerator versus room temperature. Cut the
butter into 1-inch cubes and chill again. Do not soften the
butter to room temperature.
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| Take from fridge and toss it
in with the sugar. |
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| Start creaming the
ingredients together with a hand-held electric mixer, which
is easier to control when making these cookies, rather than
a stand one. Run the mixer over the butter lumps to break
them up. |
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| The butter lumps will not
break up easily, occasionally stop the mixer and rub the
butter and sugar together with your fingertips or a pastry
blender until they do. Do so quickly and deftly to prevent
the butter from melting. |
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| Resume creaming only until
the butter and sugar mixture has just turned light in color
and is still slightly grainy. Do not cream past this point.
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| Refrigerate the mixture
right after creaming for about 10 minutes before adding the
eggs in the next step. I have found that this really helps.
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Or, use
HALF BUTTER & HALF SHORTENING:
The Nestle's recipe uses 100 %
butter, which I prefer because of its taste. But, you can
substitute it, 1 for 1 with shortening.
Shortening produces a softer,
thicker, chewier cookie. Butter's melting point is lower, at 92 -
98 degrees F. It melts in the oven before the starches in the
flour have gelatinized allowing the cookies ample time to spread.
Shortening on the other hand, has a higher melting point of
98 - 110 F degrees, allowing for the flour's starches to set
before the butter melts, resulting in a puffier one.
To get the
best of both worlds, you can substitute half of the butter with
(butter-flavored) shortening, both on the cool side of
room temperature. |
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TIP #2:
EGGS: The
Nestle's recipe contains 2 large eggs. Mix
them in THOROUGHLY, one at a time right from the refrigerator.
Their slight chill helps to keep the butter as firm as possible
through the final mixing stage. If you use room temperature ones,
it will soften the texture of the dough. |
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TIP #3:
The Nestle's recipe uses
ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR,
but add in 1 to 2 tablespoons or
1/4 to 1/2 cup more than the flour called for in the recipe,
making sure not to add too much; extra flour will make the cookies
puffier. Use bread flour for a chewy cookie: since bread flour can
absorb much more liquid than all purpose flour, more moisture will
stay in the cookie.
Bleached or chlorinated
flours also reduce spread, but I don't use them. I
recommend you always mix in the flour by hand with a large spoon
to as not to overmix and toughen the cookies. |
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TIP #4:
CHOCOLATE CHIPS: Use 2/3
of the amount (SOB!!) of regular chocolate chips or use the full
amount in mini ones, instead; it's helps to reduce cookie spread.
There are way too many chocolate chips in the recipe
which also causes the cookies to spread. (But, of course because
Nestle's is in the business of selling chocolate chips, hence the
large amount) . |
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TIP #5:
Again, the Nestle's cookie-spread is also controlled through the
TEMPERATURE of the dough.
Keep the dough chilled at all times. It allows the
butter to reharden so that the dough is firm and the cookies will
spread less. After forming and before baking, if the room is warm,
also chill the formed cookie dough on the baking sheet. |
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TIP #6:
When baking the Nestle's cookies, the
RIGHT PANS are essential.
NON -insulated, non-stick and
light colored cookie
sheets, without rims are the best to use.
The cookies bake the best on them. |
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TIP #7: DO
NOT GREASE the cookie sheets; it will cause the Nestle's cookie to
spread. Line them with parchment paper as it works best
for preventing it. |
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TIP #8:
PREHEAT THE OVEN and use an oven thermometer to measure accuracy.
If the oven is too hot, the
cookies will spread too much when put in the oven. Position rack
in the center and preheat the oven. Place cookie sheets in the
center of the rack. If using more than one, position a rack just
above the center and one just below. Stagger the cookie sheets
between the two. Rotate half-way through baking and switch
the sheets on the racks. |
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TIP #9: Place
the RECOMMENDED AND CONSISTENT SIZE of dough on the baking sheet
for even baking. You don't want some cookies to over
bake if larger than the others. Don't make the cookies too large
because if you are trying to make them chewy and puffy, you won't
be able to get them from the cookie sheet after baking. If you
make them small, watch them carefully because cookies burn
quickly. Some bakers use small ice cream scoops
(#20 disher, to be exact)
to help them keep a consistent cookie
dough size. If you don't have one, use the tablespoon from your
measuring spoon set. |
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TIP #10: It
is better to SLIGHTLY UNDERBAKE the Nestle's dough for chewier
cookies.
Remove the cookies from the oven a few minutes before
they are done, while their centers are still soft and not quite
cooked through. The edges should be slightly golden but the middle
will look even paler. Let them sit on the cookie sheet for 5 - 10
minutes to harden a bit and remove to a wire cake rack to cool. If
using parchment paper, simply remove the cookies on them to a
cooling rack. Remove from paper when cooled. |
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TIP # 11: As
with all cookies, make sure the baking pan has COMPLETELY COOLED
before placing a new batch of dough on them. The fat in
the recipe melts when placed on a warm sheet, causing an immediate
spread. |
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TIP #12: And, always
ENJOY YOUR HOMEMADE COOKIES, no matter how they turn out !! |
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Cori's Solutions to Flat
Chocolate Chip Cookies (edited): Cori, a visitor
to baking911.com, wrote me a note on
Ask
Sarah (2/5/03) about her great findings:
Hi Sarah - Back in November we were
discussing the flattening problem with my Nestle Toll House Cookies. At last
posting, I was going to experiment using your suggestions. Well...I am happy
to report the problem appears solved. I've made these cookies now without
any problems, so am pretty confident with my results. Yes, I use the recipe
on the back of the Nestle bag. Also, my cookies are rather large. Each one
uses 3.25 oz of dough, weighed on a digital kitchen scale.
I found the following makes a difference:
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I use 1/2 shortening & 1/2 unsalted butter
instead of 100% butter. |
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Use COLD ingredients -- butter, eggs, etc.
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After stirring in the dry ingredients, I
mix them on medium speed for about 30 seconds. |
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Use the dough immediately before the dough
has warmed while sitting! Refrigerate before using if it does. |
I also used your tests for ensuring my baking
soda & baking powder were still potent -- WOW! A neat science experiment!
Thank you so much for your suggestions and help!
From Sarah:
You are welcome Cori. It sounds like you did all the work! Good for you!
Sarah |
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The History
of the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie: |
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Back in 1930, Kenneth and Ruth Wakefield
purchased a Cape Cod-style toll house located halfway between Boston and New
Bedford, on the outskirts of Whitman, Massachusetts. The same year the
chocolate chip cookie was invented in that house by Ruth. Originally
constructed in 1709, the house served as a haven for road-weary travelers. |
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Here, passengers paid toll, changed horses, and
ate much-welcomed home-cooked meals. It was also here, over 200 years later,
that the Wakefield decided to open a lodge, calling it the Toll House Inn.
In keeping with the tradition of creating delicious homemade meals, Ruth
baked for guests who stayed at the Toll House Inn. She graduated from the
Framingham State Normal School Department of Household Arts in 1924. After
graduation, she worked as a dietitian and food lecturer. |
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As she improved upon traditional Colonial
recipes, Ruth's incredible desserts began attracting people from all over
New England. One day, while preparing a batch of Butter Drop Do cookies, a
favorite recipe dating back to Colonial days, Ruth cut a bar of our Nestlé
Semi-Sweet Chocolate into tiny bits and added them to her dough, expecting
them to melt. Instead, the chocolate held its shape and softened to a
delicately creamy texture. The resulting creation became very popular at the
Inn. Soon, Ruth's recipe was published in a Boston newspaper, as well as
other papers in the New England area. Regional sales of Nestlé Semi-Sweet
Chocolate Bar skyrocketed. |
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Ruth eventually approached Nestlé and together,
they reached an agreement that allowed Nestle to print what would become the
Toll House Cookie recipe on the wrapper of the Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar.
Part of this agreement included supplying Ruth with all of the chocolate she
could use to make her delicious cookies for the rest of her life. |
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As the popularity of the Toll House cookie
continued to grow Nestle looked for ways to make it easier for people to
bake. Soon, they began scoring the Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar, and packaged it
with a special chopper for easily cutting it into small morsels. Shortly
after, in 1939, they began offering tiny pieces of chocolate in convenient,
ready-to-use packages and that is how the first Nestlé Toll House Real
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels were introduced.
(History from nestles.com) |
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If
you want Thick With a
Chew, Chocolate Chip Cookies
EVERY TIME,
try the recipe in my new 
