Which ingredient?

[Shimmer]

I recently made a cookie recipe from a book, and the dough ended up as a bunch of crumbles that wouldn't stick together instead of the "stiff dough" that was supposed to form. When I need to make dough stick together, what is the best ingredient to add more of, and why? Water? Milk? Butter?

I know what I DO, but I don't know if it's right.

~~Shimmer~~

[momoreg]

It REALLY depends what you think is lacking. Butter will make a cookie more tender, but it will spread more, and liquid will moisten the dough, yes, but if it's butter (or fat) that's missing, the liquid may yield a tough cookie (because you're using it to replace fat that's lacking). If you post the recipe, we can help you.

[Shimmer]

I think it might be a butter issue. Because... I decided to cook some anyway (I had to force it together) and they were okay tasting but as soon as they cooled were really "tough cookies."

But if it is butter, how much more should I add?

Lemon Poppyseed Cookies
(From 365 Ways to Prepare for Christmas )

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 cups flour
pinch salt

Here is what the instructions say:
1. Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in poppyseeds and lemon zest. Add flour and salt and mix well to make a stiff dough. (This was the first time I knew something was wrong!!)
2. Divide dough in half and roll each piece in wax paper to make a cylinder about 2" in diameter, and 6 inches long. Refrigerate dough until firm, at least 4 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 350. Grease cookie sheets. Slice dough into rounds about 1/4" thick. Arrange about 1" apart on cookie sheets. Bake 12 minutes, or until edges of cookies are lightly browned.


Okay, I'm counting on all of you more experienced bakers out there who actually understand the chemical side of things. Please explain to me the WHY, or I'll never learn anything!!

You're great. Thanks so much! I wanted to try again, because even though they're a simple cookie the smell was wonderful.

~~Shimmer~~

[momoreg]

That's basically a shortbread with WAAAYYY too little butter. My shortbread recipe uses a pound of butter to a cup of sugar, with a little bit more than a pound of flour.

If you added liquid or eggs to it, that would ruin the delicate nature of shortbread, so just increase the butter, and you'll be in business.

[m brown]

I would add water.
Whip butter and sugar together then add seeds and zest and then the flour and a tablespoon of water. If the dough does not come together immediately (within a few paddle strokes) add another tablespoon of water. Try not to over mix the dough and I would even, now don't quote me on this, add a pinch of baking powder with the flour to take away the toughness of the cookie.

I was given a wonderful formula for short cookie dough (not a shortbread) one time and it needed a little liquid, when I added water it gave the dough to extra liquid it needed to knead well.

[KyleW]

¾ pound butter
1 cup Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. Salt


This is a shortbread cookie dough that has never failed me. You can do all kinds of things with it. I may have to try the poppy seeds and lemon zest

[W.DeBord]

I'm with Momoreg on this one. Adding liquids to a short cookie changes it, then it's not short...not enough liquid could make it tougher. Instead of adding baking powder for your effect MBrown, consider using cornstarch with your flour....it works REALLY well in a short cookie!

[mudbug]

Shimmer, you may find this article helpful in your cookie making endeavors:

How to Get the Texture You Want in Your Cookies

Cookies are a favorite goodie of just about everyone. And it seems like just about everyone has a different opinion of how cookies should be. Some people like their cookies crisp and delicate. Others prefer a chewy cookie with a thickness that you can sink your teeth into. The conundrum lies in getting the cookies you bake to have the texture you want. The exact same cookie recipe can bake up into two completely different cookies, the flavor will be the same but the texture will be different. How, you ask? The reasons all lie within the variables of ingredients, mixing technique, temperature, and equipment and baking time.

Ingredients
The ingredients you use are extremely, extremely important in achieving your desired cookie. Doing something as small as using baking powder instead of baking soda or using cake flour instead of all-purpose flour can make a huge difference. Even the type of fat you use in your cookie will dramatically affect its outcome. The basic building blocks of most cookies are fat, flour, baking powder and baking soda, sugar, and eggs or other liquid.

Fats - The fats most often used in cookies are butter, margarine, shortening and oil. Fats play a major role in the spread of your cookie. In other words, they help to determine if your cookie spreads out into a thin mass on the cookie sheet or pretty much keeps its original shape. Shortening, margarine and spreads are fairly stable so they will help cookies keep their original unbaked shape. Butter melts at a much lower temperature than the other solid fats, so cookies made with it will tend to spread out. And oil, since it already is a liquid at room temperature, produces cookies that keep their shape. The amount of fat also affects the cookies. You can basically think of it this way: More fat equals flatter and chewier to crispier cookies. Less fat equals puffier and more cake-like cookies.

Flour - Flour also affects how cookies bake and behave. Flours with a high protein content like bread and all-purpose flour will help to produce cookies that tend to be flatter, darker, and more crisp than their counterparts made with cake or pastry flour.

Baking Powder and Baking Soda - Baking powder and baking soda are the two most common leaveners in cookies. Baking soda is simply bicarbonate of soda, while baking powder is a combination of bicarbonate of soda plus an acidic ingredient (cream of tartar).

Baking soda neutralizes the acidity of the dough, allowing the cookies to brown in the oven. Since baking powder already contains its own acid, it will not reduce the acidity in the dough, and the resulting cookies will be puffier and lighter in color.

Sugars - The type of sugar and how much you use also plays a big role. White sugar will make a crisper cookie than brown sugar or honey. In fact, upon standing, cookies made from brown sugar will actually absorb moisture, helping to insure that they stay chewy. Thus the reason that most chocolate chip cookie recipes contain both brown and white sugars is that you get the best of both worlds! If you lower the amount of sugar called for in a cookie recipe the final baked cookie will be puffier than its high sugar counterpart.

Eggs and Liquids - Eggs and liquids can either cause cookies to puff up or spread. If egg is the liquid it will help to promote puffiness. Just a tablespoon or two of water or other liquid will help your cookies spread into flatter and crisper rounds. One thing to remember is the different effects of egg yolks and egg whites. Egg yolks will help to add moistness whereas egg whites tend to make cookies drier. To make up for the drying effect of the egg whites extra sugar is added. This is the reason that cookies made with just egg whites tend to be so sweet.

Mixing Technique
Cookies are not as delicate as cakes, but mixing still plays an important role. The most important step in cookie mixing is the creaming step. This is the step where the fat and the sugar are whipped together until light colored, smooth and fluffy. This helps to incorporate air into the batter, which you need if you want your baking soda and/or baking powder to work. Another important factor is not to overmix the dough. Once you combine the dry and wet ingredients, mix until just combined and no longer.

Temperature
Do not underestimate the importance of temperature in cookie baking. Cookie dough that is chilled before baking will hold its shape and produce a slightly puffier cookie. Cookie dough that is at room temperature before baking will spread and flatten out while baking. So if you happen to have a very warm kitchen, it's a good idea to refrigerate the dough before you bake it.

Equipment and Baking Time
Different baking sheets and whether you grease the sheets or not will produce different results. A good baking sheet can make a big difference. Super thin baking sheets will cause the cookie bottoms to cook faster, sometimes resulting in burnt bottoms. Yuck! Insulated baking sheets allow air movement and will help to produce puffier cookies. If you want flat crisp cookies, your best bet is the standard semi-thick baking sheets that are available just about everywhere. If you grease your cookie sheets before baking, it will cause the cookies to spread out more but if you don't grease the sheets you run the risk of the cookies sticking to the sheets and making a big mess. A good and fairly inexpensive solution to this is parchment paper. Its non-stick surface makes for easy cookie removal and yet it doesn't cause the cookies to spread out.

Yes, it is true the longer you bake something the more cooked it will become. Cookies are usually baked from 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Since cookies are small they tend to bake fast. A difference in temperature can completely change the amount of time you'll need to bake your cookie. If you want your cookies to be chewy, the trick is to slightly underbake them. If you want them to be crispy, bake them a little longer. The best way to do this is with an accurate oven thermometer, a timer and your watchful eye until you get it all down.

So How Do You Want 'Em?
So now that you know a little bit about what goes into the cookie, how do you combine it all to come up with your favorite winning texture? Just follow these tips to get the cookie you desire. Don't be afraid to mix and match, your ideal might just lie somewhere between all the extremes. Start baking cookies - there's a texture to find!

Flat - If you want your cookies on the flat side, you can do some or all of the following things: Use all butter, use all-purpose flour or bread flour, increase the sugar content slightly, add a bit of liquid to your dough, bring the dough to room temperature before baking.

Puffy - If you like your cookies all light and puffy, try some of the following tricks: Use shortening or margarine and cut back on the fat, add an egg, cut back on the sugar, use cake flour or pastry flour, use baking powder instead of baking soda, refrigerate your dough before baking.

Chewy - If chewiness is your desire remove the cookies 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 still look slightly raw. Use brown sugar or honey as a sweetener. Try using egg yolks instead of whole eggs, this will add some extra moistness to the cookies thus helping to be a bit more on the chewy side.

Crispy - For crisp and crunchy cookies, bake your cookies a few minutes longer than suggested and immediately remove them to wire racks to cool. Cookies made with all butter and a high amount of white sugar will also crisp up quite nicely. Another trick is to use bread flour.

Written by Ursula Dalzell at allrecipes.com

[angrychef]

Increase your butter to 2 sticks(8 oz.) and lower your sugar to 3/4 cup or even 1/2 cup and you'll have great shortbread cookies.

[Marzoli]

That article is EXACTLY what I needed!

[mudbug]

Marzoli,

Glad you found it helpful.

[Kimmie]

I always find that type of information useful.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!

[Shimmer]

I tried again. I changed the butter to 1 cup, and decreased the sugar. The dough wasn't as crumbly as before, but still didn't really come together, so I added water 1 tsp at a time (I think I ended up adding only 2 tsp) to make a nice dough.

But the cookies are hard as rocks.

What am I doing wrong? Has anyone tried the actual recipe out? It seems like the texture is grand before chilling. Maybe I should not do the chilling step?

Also, although I feel slightly sheepish for asking, what exactly is the texture I'm looking for? I"ve had so many variations of "shortbread" in my life, I hardly know what is correct. I only know that these cookies that I am ruining are not right.

Please help me! I refuse to just put it aside. I am so mad. I had to make a fudge recipe last week three times before I got it right, but it was so great once I had the ingredients changed around to work right, and I'd like to feel the same satisfaction with these stupid cookies.

Thanks, y'all, for teaching me so much....

~~Shimmer~~

[Isa]

You should change recipe Shimmer, here are two:


Lemon Poppyseeds
36 Cookies

1 1/2 cups bleached all purpose flour
6 tablespoons poppyseeds
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
zest peeled from 3 medium lemons
1 cup unsalted butter
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract



Soften the butter. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, poppyseeds and salt. In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, vanilla and zest, and scrape the sides of the bowl. At low speed gradually beat in the flour mixture, just until incorporated.

Scrape the dough into a bowl and refrigerate at least for 1 hour.

Place two oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350°F.

Measure level tablespoons of dough and roll them between the palms of your hands to form balls. Drop each dough ball as soon as it is formed. Place on a cookie sheets, 2 inches apart.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the bottoms are browned. For even baking, rotate the cookie sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking period.

Use a small angled spatula or pancake turner to transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completly.

If desired, sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar for an attractive finish.

Store in an airthight container at room temperature or in the freezer.


From: Rose's Christmas Cookies



Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
40 Cookies

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract


Mix flour, salt and baking powder in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until light. Gradually beat in sugar. Beat in egg, then poppy seeds, lemon peel and extracts. Mix in dry ingredients in 3 additions. Gather dough into ball. Divide dough in half; flatten each half into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 2 large baking sheets. Roll out 1 dough disk on floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Using 21/2-inch-diameter fluted cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Arrange cookies 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Gather scraps; reroll and cut out more cookies. Chill cookies on baking sheets 15 minutes.

Bake cookies until edges just begin to color, about 18 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets 3 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks; cool completely. Repeat rolling, cutting and baking with remaining dough. (Can be made ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 2 weeks or freeze up to 1 month.)


From: Bon Appétit

[momoreg]

I'm tellin' ya, increase your butter. Butter is a tenderizer, and will change the 'hard as rocks' texture of the shortbread. Once your dough is mixed, roll it out to the thickness you want, THEN chill it for 30 min. or so before cutting it.

On a side note, If you roll it out on parchment paper, you can flip the chilled dough upside down onto another piece of paper to unstick it, and make it easier to transfer it to a pan.