Measuring
Short of weighing them on a scale, the most accurate way to measure dry ingredients is to scoop and level. Dip the measuring cup or spoon into the flour, sugar, baking powder, or whatever. Scoop it up, then level it off with the blunt edge of a knife.
When a recipe calls for an amount for which there is no exact measuring tool, combine smaller measures. For example, to measure 3/4 cup, combine 1/2 cup of the ingredient with another 1/4 cup. To measure 6 tablespoons, use 1/4 cup with two additional tablespoons. Two-thirds cup is most easily measured by using a 1/3 cup measure twice.
To avoid making a mess, I like to transfer dry ingredients to wide-mouth containers with lids. Tupperware-type plastic containers are good for ingredients that come in 1-pound boxes such as brown or powered sugar. For larger canisters to hold flour and white sugar, I use clear plastic boxes with tight-fitting lids found in restaurant/bakery supply stores. They look nice lined up on the shelf.
Room Temperature
Unless the recipe specifies otherwise, have all ingredients at room temperature (65 to 75 degrees) before you begin. Butter should be malleable and soft enough to yield to gentle pressure. Softened butter is easily beaten into a light and airy mass that can absorb the sugar. Cold butter is dense and nonabsorbent. A quick way to soften butter is to slice it into tablespoon pieces, and warm it in the microwave for a few seconds. Cold eggs will curdle the butter and sugar. Let them sit outside the refrigerator for a few hours before you bake. If you forget, take the chill off the eggs by placing them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.
Butter and Eggs
Use unsalted butter. It allows you to control the amount of salt you add to the recipe. Large eggs are always called for, because they are a standard size. The wrong size egg makes the dough wet or too dry.
Flour
Flour contains protein and starch. Depending on the breed of wheat, and the soil and climate in which it is grown, certain flours contain more or less protein or starch. Hard wheat flour, or bread flour, contains more protein. It has the ability to form gluten - a strong elastic web of protein strands that allows the bread to rise and hold gas like a balloon. Soft wheat flour, or pastry flour, contains more starch. It doesn't have the "strength" of bread flour, so it's better for tender pastries such as cake and biscuits. All-purpose flour falls between the two. It can be used to make either bread or pastry, hence its name. It's the best flour for making most cookies. I get the best results with white, bleached all-purpose flour. If you use a different kind of flour, you may have to adjust slightly the liquid in the recipe.
Baking Powder and Soda
These chemical leaveners are responsible for lifting and spreading the cookie dough in the oven. They must be fresh and active to do their job. To test baking powder, drop half a teaspoon into a cup of warm water. It should fizz vigorously. To test baking soda, add a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar to a small. If active, it will bubble and fizz.
Nuts and Dried Fruit
Only fresh and tasty will do. No one will want a second cookie made with tasteless nuts or dried fruit that is as hard as pellets. Purchase these ingredients in a store where they sell a large quantity - a health food store or busy gourmet supermarket.
To keep nuts fresh, refrigerate them in a airtight container. Crisp them up in a 350 degree on oven, for about 10 minutes. Let them cool to room temperature before adding them to the dough. Unbalanced means that the paper-thin, brown outer husks are left on the nuts; balanced means the skins are removed.
Vanilla Extract
Use the pure stuff; there is no substitute. Vanilla extract it made from the pods of an orchid plant. It is highly aromatic, and has a way of rounding out the taste of almost any cookie. Imitation vanilla is extracted from wood-pulp by-products. It doesn't approach the aroma and flavor of the real thing. |
