Everyone loves chocolate chip cookies, but
we all enjoy them in different ways.
And let’s not even get started on nuts.
But how can you get your cookies to
turn out just the way you like them?
Well, you get it by playing with the recipe.
Changing up the ingredients, manipulate the technique.
Hey that Kind of sounds like – science!
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Baking has a ton of chemistry going on,
but let’s start with chewiness.
A cookie’s chewiness comes from gluten
that forms when you mix flour and water.
For extra chewy cookies, use bread
flour instead of all purpose flour.
Bread flour has more protein, which helps with the gluten development.
So, Say you like a cookie with more complex flavors well then turn up that heat!
When you bake your cookies at 375 degrees
Farenheit, instead of the typical 350, sugar
breaks down in a process called “caramelization.”
This reaction pleases your tongue by producing
molecules with butterscotch, rum, and nut flavors.
For a fluffier cookie, add good ol’ sodium bicarbonate,
more commonly known as baking soda.
Baking soda breaks down in the oven creating
carbon dioxide gas bubbles which keep
your cookie from getting too dense.
But you don’t have to take my word for it.
We’re going to invade our favorite cookie expert:
Science News’ Bethany Brookshire’s kitchen,
who’s going to use the scientific method to
see the difference chilled, room temperature
and melted butter make in cookie making.
Bethany:
“For the past few years, I’ve made over
500 cookies in the name of science.
But today we’re just going to make 6 dozen.
When your using the scientific method you
need to start by asking yourself a question:
why does something work the way it does?
Why do ingredients in cookies bake the way they do?
For this experiment, I’m going to ask a
question about cookies and butter.
Most cookie recipes call for butter
that’s softened or melted.
Why?
What’s so important about the butter in cookies?
I’m going to make three batches, exactly the same, changing only the butter.
Before I begin my experiment, I’m going to make
a few guesses or a hypothesis about how
I think this experiment is going to turn out.
I think using that chilled butter will create a harder dough,
a colder dough, that will result in a smaller cookie.
Using room temperature butter will create a
slightly softer dough and a slightly wider cookie.
Finally, using melted butter will create a much
runny dough, that will spread out on
the pan making a flat wider cookie.
Now let’s test it.
In this first batch I’m going to use chilled butter.
This second one we’ll put in room temperature
butter and the third one is getting some butter I put
in the microwave for about a minute and a half.
(Baking experiment in Progress)
(Results Time).
As you can tell, our hypothesis was correct.
Melted butter actually did produce larger cookies than cold butter did.
You can actually do this with any ingredients
in your cookies or with any other kinds of food.
For cookies try different kinds of sweeteners,
different kinds of flower, see what kind of
chocolate makes the best chips. It’s all up to you.
But remember, if you’re going to do good science,
you’re going to have to repeat your experiments
many, many times. and this might mean baking a lot cookies.”
And a special Thanks to the ACS ChemClubs for making this video possible.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of ChemClubs.
To celebrate, they’re throwing a big food chemistry-themed party on Nov. 16th,
and they’re live streaming the whole thing.
Click the link in the summary for more details.
Try your own experiments with cookies
and let us know what results you find.
Tweet us your pictures or post on our Facebook page.
Or email your cookies.
We’re down for that too.
For more cookie information head on over to Bethany’s Eureka!
Lab blog series -- links are in the summary.
And hey, thanks for watching!