can someone help me with baking cookies?

Question

I just made cookies and they came out a little crumbly sort of like shortbread taste. I know you can over-flour cookies but did I add too much butter then? What makes shortbread cookies taste different anyway? What should I do? They are peanut butter cookies. Thanks for your suggestions.

Answer 1

It sounds like the proportions for the recipe you used may have been for a crumbly peanut butter cookie. The high concentration of fat in this kind of recipe (butter or shortening and peanut butter) can make the cookie crumbly if not balanced with sugar and egg.

This recipe makes a good PB cookie:

Ingredients

2 1/2 C flour
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 Lb butter (2 sticks), salted
1 C firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 C granulated sugar
1 C extra-crunchy peanut butter, preferably Jif
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
(optional) 1 cup roasted salted peanuts, ground to consistency of breadcrumbs

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350

Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.

Beat butter until creamy. Add sugars and beat until fluffy. (~3 min, w/elec. mixer)
Beat in peanut butter until fully incorporated (don't overbeat), then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla.

Gently stir dry ingredients into peanut butter mixture. Optional Add ground peanuts, and stir gently until just incorporated.

Baking
Roll a bit less than 2Tbs of dough into a ball, and place on parchment covered cookie sheet. Using a dinner fork dipped in cold water, make the traditional criss-cross pattern in each cookie.

Bake until cookies are puffed and slightly brown along the edges (but not on top--they will look slightly underbaked) about 10-12 minutes.

Makes approximately 4 Dozen Cookies


There is an interesting bit of info comparing PB cookie recipes on 360: http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-LaUPObYyaK_ixYk0b4x_?p=116

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

When you're making the dough and putting little bits of it onto the cookie sheets, if it seems crumbly, you need more moisture. Add a teaspoon of water or milk or cooking oil or even margarine. If it's peanut butter cookies, you could add another tablespoon or two of peanut butter. If you're using a special type of peanut butter (fat-free, sugar-free, old-fashioned, organic, etc) you may need to adjust the recipe accordingly. You may also need to knead the cookie dough a bit more to more evenly distribute the moisture that's already there. On a humid day you'll need a little less moisture, and on dry days you'll need to add a little more.

Shortbread cookies, to my knowledge (limited to any recipes I've seen or used, that is) are distinct in that they have no liquid and no leavening agent. Flour, sugar, and shortening are about it in most of the recipes I've seen or used. That said, did you accidentally leave out all or part of the liquid or the leavening agent (baking powder or baking soda, most likely) in your peanut butter cookies? If so, that'd be why they taste like shortbread. Hmmmmm.....peanut butter shortbread.......you may be onto something good here.....

Answer 4

It is possible to put too much butter in something, also you could have creamed the butter too long, it usually results in flat crumbly cookies.

Shortbread cookies usually have a ton of butter in them, and usually just have flour, sugar, butter and salt in the recipe.

I would suggest reading over the recipe again and make sure that you didn't misread the measurements.

Answer 5

You will need to either reduce the amount of butter or add more flour to the cookie recipe. The reason is because the peanuts in the peanut butter will produce peanut oil while cooking.

Answer 6

You probably mismeasured or left out an ingredient that was key to the recipe. And if you floured the peanut butter cookies after that probably has a lot to do with it. Normally you roll them in a ball and then flatten them with a sugared fork in a pattern.

Answer 7

Many p.b. cookie recipes end up crumbly. Not certain, but it may help to add more shortening. When you find a recipe that works well for you, don't lose it.

Answer 8

u need
2cups pb
1/8 teaspoon butter
1/3 cup flour
1 cup sugar
mix it
preheat oven at 350 degrees
cook for 20-40 minutes

Answer 9

you should look up a recipe