Cookie Baking Basics: Mastering the Chocolate Chip Cookie

1. Introduction: Hi, everyone. Welcome to Cookie Baking Basics. Mastering the perfect chocolate chip cookie. My name is Julie, and I own Nashi, a cookie company in Virginia. I'm gonna be giving you all of the tools you need to be able to make the best chocolate chip cookie of your life. No experience required. The word cookie comes from this Dutch word, which means little cake. It arrived in American English with the Dutch settlement of New Netherland in the early 16 hundreds. Cookies have existed for the entire documented history of baking itself. It's no wonder that I'm so in love with cookies. They're the perfect snack. They usually travel well. They don't require any special tools to eat them. And there's literally thousands of possibilities for how they can look and taste. Also called biscuits, particularly in the UK, there are many basic forms. Cookies can come in. Four main types are bar cookies, drop cookies, rolled or cut out cookies and refrigerator or icebox cookies. Bar cookies are typically made in a pan and then cut into squares or rectangles after baking. Just like you would have brownie drop. Cookies like the chocolate chip ones will be making in this class are cookies formed from battered, dropped by spoonfuls or scoops onto the baking sheet. Rolled or cut out cookies are cookies made from dough that has been rolled out flat and cut into shapes with cookie cutters before baking. The classic Gingerbread Man is an example of a cutout cookie, refrigerator or ice pot. Cookies come from dough that is typically molded into cylinders or squares and hardened in the fridge before slicing and baking. In this class, you will learn all about the specific tools you will need on the step by step techniques you will use to make chocolate chip cookies. I will also be providing troubleshooting tips. Maybe your cookie baking hasn't gone too well in the past. I will help you figure out why to ensure that your cookies air fabulous from here on out. But don't get discouraged. I baked cookies for a living, and sometimes there's still a fail. You just grab some more flour and butter and try again. The project for this class is actually to bake some cookies. You will be posting photos of both your process and your final product. You will also post comments about how the process was for you and how your cookie tastes really the most important part. And we'd also like to hear about what cookie you'd like to try to make next. Now that you've conquered chocolate chip, ready to get started, Let's go. 2. Project Overview: project for this class is to actually bake some cookies in order to help you get there successfully. The videos we've posted take you through the process, and we've added a project document that has written out materials. You'll need the ingredients and specific instructions. We suggest that you start watching the videos after having looked at the project document. To complete your project, you will upload photos of your final product, your cookies and post some notes about how the process less for you. We would also love to know if you do anything different next time, or if you had any epiphany moments while going through this process. Happy baking. 3. What You'll Need: Equipment & Ingredients: Let's review the equipment and ingredients you're going to need for this recipe. You'll need an event with the rack in the middle. I find that cookies I baked at home best bake one trade of time and in the middle of the oven. Also, if you do not trust or aren't familiar with your oven, I also suggest and oven thermometer. Just because the oven says it's at 3 25 doesn't mean it really is. You can totally do most recipes by hand. It is just a lot easier with the mixer and make sure you have the paddle attachment as shown here. Baking sheets, of course, lined with parchment paper. The parchment paper aren't mandatory, but totally make life easier. And be aware that the darker of the color of your baking sheets, the faster your cookies air going to bake. Ah, cookie scoop is great for consistency and prettiness but is not mandatory. Regular spoon will do the trick. A scale A shown here is the best way to ensure consistency over time and across bakers, but until then, you need measuring cups and measuring spoons. Small bowls help if you're concerned about the salt overflowing or just want to get your things lined up before adding them all together, they can prevent a lot of headache. Here's the ingredients you'll need all purpose flour. I use King Arthur's unbleached all purpose, but any old purpose will dio different flowers have different protein levels in them, which change what a cookie does. So if a recipe calls for a particular flower, use that flower. If it does not specify, use all purpose. We will need baking soda for this recipe. Salt as well. With salt. Make sure you aren't using a course ground salt Sea salt is fine. Kosher is find, too, but a fine ground when it's within a recipe, and not just for finishing on the top. Make sure your butter is unsalted and at room temperature you're brown. Sugar can be light brown or dark brown. I always use dark brown because of the extra notes of molasses it brings to recipes. But light is just fine. Granulated sugar. Make sure you have a fine grain here. Organic sugars tend to be coarser and will make a noticeable difference in your recipes. Eggs were gonna chat more about eggs in the video, specifically about eggs. Vanilla extract used to make my own with vodka and vanilla beans. It is surprisingly easy but takes a little bit of time. If you use store bought extract, I suggest staying away from the imitation flavors. This cookie calls for chocolate chips. I prefer semisweet. If you want to get fancy, feel free to get chocolate chunks and chop them up. Or pick a mint chip or peanut butter chip. Once you've mastered these cookies, you can also try adding other things like crushed pretzels or Eminem's, along with some patients and a sense of adventure. That's really all you need for these, and most cookies head on to the next video to learn about measuring flour. The project document is going to tell you how much of each ingredient you'll need for this recipe. 4. How to Measure Flour: measuring flour incorrectly and having the wrong temperature. Butter is really where a lot of bakers can go wrong. So I'm gonna show you how to measure flower correctly. When I was kid so I was taught Take your measuring cup, but there, just scoop it right up. Level it off. There's your flower measure this by weight 134 grams. Now the proper way, the proper way to do it is Teoh. You have a full container to try to connect area in a little bit, not too much. You're gonna take your spoon or another smaller measuring cup and you're gonna gently scoop it in. You're not gonna compact it down. Just gonna gently skip it in and you're gonna want to make a little mound like that. This is why having a container for your flower instead of just scooping it out of the bag very helpful you a little bit more leeway to scoop and not worry about things falling over . So you're just gonna level it off with a knife? Other footage that is the proper way to measure it. 122. It's almost 10 grams of flour less so 10 grams of flour mawr and a cookie will make your cookie possibly harder, not soften out as much spread as much. So you really want to measure your flower correctly. If you can do it by weight, that is preferable. If you have a recipe, says 100 grams of flour, get yourself a scale. I like my little electric skill. However, most US recipes do not have anything by weight. It's all by volume, so you need to be able to measure properly. 5. A Word About Eggs: Let's check about eggs. First off. Use chicken eggs. Color really doesn't matter. It's just a difference in species of the chicken. Size, however, does matter. Most American recipes assumed the use of a large egg. If it doesn't specify otherwise, Extra large jumbo or medium eggs can throw off the balance of liquid in a recipe. If you want to get technical in. American large egg weighs about 57 grams. Medium eggs in the UK are the same size as large eggs in the U. S. You can search the Web to find out more about eggs eyes. Wherever you live relative to the American large, always crack your eggs in a separate bowl. The last thing you need is to try to hunt down an eggshell in a big bowl of butter and sugar. You'll see that I'm also splitting a second egg to add an extra yoke. This recipe is perfect with one egg, however, if you'd like a chillier cookie at another yoke. Two. Separate an egg. Move the yolks and whites back and forth in your hands until the white has fallen away. Be gentle, though. Crack that yoke and you'll be starting again. Another reason to use separate bowls 6. Mise en Place: a great way to ensure no ingredient mess ups is to follow me zone. Plus, it's French for put in place and basically means that everything is set and ready to go. You've got all of your ingredients, and there's nothing stopping you for making these cookies for me. These, um plus means I keep my baking powder in a specific spot so that when I need it, I know I'm not accidentally grabbing something else. For beginner Baker's, it should mean that you've gathered and measured everything you need, and you're ready to pull it all together. Having lots of small bulls around is very helpful with us. MSM plus means that your butter is at room temperature. You have enough eggs, you're baking soda has not expired and your measured or weighed all of the things, and you just need to combine them. For this recipe you're going to use two cups and two tablespoons of flour, 1/2 teaspoon each of baking soda and salt 1.5 sticks of room temperature unsalted butter one cup packed brown sugar half a cup of granulated sugar one large egg, An additional yoke if you wish. Two teaspoons of vanilla extract and 1 to 1.5 cups of chocolate chips. Once you have it all together, let's get started. 7. Putting it all together: now that you've weighed or measured all of your ingredients, cracked your eggs, and if you're baking right away, your oven is pre heating. Let's mix the dry ingredients together. First, you'll be using two cups and two tablespoons worth of flour, half a teaspoon each of baking soda and salt and then whisk it together with a whisk or fork to combine. Now let's do the wet ingredients. We're going to use room temperature butter, which, as you can see here, is a little squishy. 1.5 sticks should do the trick here. I'm weighing it out, going to use one cup of packed brown sugar. So when using a measuring cup, just pack it on in there nice and tight and level it off again. I'm weighing it here, going to use 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and then we're gonna take it to cream it in the mixer. While I do suggest using a stand mixer for speed and ease with this recipe, it is totally possible to make these cookies by hand. In fact, before I started my cookie company, I never even owned a mixer and made everything by hand, had one specific bowl and one very sturdy spoon on a lot of muscles in my arms. Now that the butter and sugar is properly creamed, we're going to add the eggs and the vanilla. Now it's time to add the dry ingredients. When you add the flour, make sure to start your electric mixer on a slow speed. If you're doing this by hand at a little at a time until it's all combined, Here's where you can add your chocolate chips or whatever other mix ins you've chosen. We are now at a decision point. With our dough, you can either scoop and bake now recover it with a rap or lid and put it in the fridge to rest overnight. The New York Times article a few years ago discussed the extra notes and deeper flavors you get. The longer you rest your chocolate chip cookie dough, they're delicious either way, and it's completely up to you. 8. Scooping the Dough: Now it's time to scoop the dough. It's not mandatory to use an actual cookie scoop like I have here. I used a regular spoon growing up on either drop them straight under the sheet pan or rolled them between my hands to get them nice and smooth. Now I always use a cookie scoop. There's tons of them out there in different sizes. Everyone has a different scooping method. What I like to do is grab some dough with scoop, push it down and level it off. Then I squeeze it onto the tray and keep on scooping until I'm done. These cookies air going to spread, so give them some room two inches between. Each ball of dough is perfect. The pan you see here is what they call 1/2 sheet pan. It's 18 inches by 13 inches. If your pan at home is smaller than this, do not go by what you see. As far as how many cookies will fit on a tray. Now we're ready to bait 9. Baking Cookies: If you followed the recipe precisely so far, and you trust your oven temperature, the rest of this should be easy. If you decided to rest your dough in the oven overnight, make sure it comes down a little in temperature before you bake it. Otherwise, they might not spread much at all. Ensure your oven is at the right temperature, not hot enough, and your dough could spread but not puff up too hot and your dough won't spread much at all or won't cook evenly. Oven thermometers really do cure a lot of ills. Once your cookies air in the oven at the right temperature, leave them alone. Every time you open the door to check on them, heat escapes. I know you're excited, but when he escapes, your cookies will take longer or bacon evenly. If you have a window in your oven door, feel free to turn the light on and stared them for the whole time. But the best thing to do is to set your timer for the lowest recommended time in the recipe , or even a minute or two under that, and then walk away. Come back and check when the timer goes off and assess if more time is needed. Bonus to baking. Only one trade of time on the middle rack is you can treat your time or temperature for the next train without losing the entire batch in this recipe. What you're looking for here is the little crackling to appear those little lines in the cookies. If everything was the right temperature, you will get them once or even before the cookie starts to brown around the edges, your cookie is done. If you've used the right amount of flour and the proper temperature butter and you know your oven is the right temperature. You really can just eyeball them until they look done to you. It'll take practice, but the more you do it, the better you'll get at it. 10. Final Thoughts: I hope you enjoyed this class and have gained confidence in your cookie baking skills. The tips and tricks discussed in these videos will set you up for success. But please know that even professional bakers fail. Sometimes you just have to grab some more flour and butter and try again have been making.