How can I make better cookies?

Question

I made some gluten free cookies yesterday and although they taste nice, they're quite dry and leave a kind of powdery taste in your mouth. What should I change about the recipe to give them a better texture? More butter? More egg???

They have to be gluten free because I'm allergic to gluten which is found in wheat (amongst other things) and therefore I can't use normal flour.

Answer 1

Bake them on parchment paper. I bake everything on parchment paper now and everything comes out better!!

Answer 2

I've never cooked gluten free but I do make excellent cookies.

When working on a recipe try writing down every single step and ingredient. This way, when you go to make a change the next time, you know exactly what you did. I keep my source recipes and notes in a file in the kitchen. I always staple my latest notes to the top, so I have records of recipe work going back the whole course of working on a recipe. My meatloaf recipe stack is about 1/4 inch thick! Needless to say, I make excellent meatloaf... another year and I'll have a permanent recipe and can discard my research...

Anyway, on to cookies...

Basics - always use fresh baking soda, after about six months the soda won't have as much 'poof power'. I date the box and after 6 months I replace it. Always use unsalted butter. Most recipes are written for unsalted butter and a stick of butter can have as much as a teaspoon of salt in it! Use large eggs as that is the size used for most recipes. Always bake on parchment paper, that way you don't have to grease the pan, the pan will be easier to clean and it greatly reduces bottom burning. Invest in some of those cookie sheets that are two layers of metal with air between - you'll never go back to regular cookie sheets.

A trick I've learned in the last few years - really cream the butter and sugar. I usually start with butter at room temp and take 5-10 minutes with the kitchen aid for this step. I let it get really creamy. Same with eggs, after I add the eggs to the butter and sugar I really mix it for a long time. Because of the egg this incorporates a lot of air into the mix which will expand later and give the cookies a wonderful light texture. I actually watch for the butter/sugar and egg mixture to increase rather substanially in volume and get a little 'jiggley' from all the incorporated air.

Dryness is often a matter of how long you've cooked them, try cookiing them for a slightly shorter time. If you can, try using small baking sheets or pans, or just a couple cookies each in the bottom of bread pans and remove them at intervals, let them all cool and taste for texture.

If you've started with a regular recipe and just modified to gluten free flour, I wouldn't mess with the sugar/butter ratio. You could try adding another egg (eggs are a binder), or a small amount of milk. Other cookie substitutions that I really like are wheat germ (crunch and nutty flavor) barley flour (lovely subtle flavor and cakey texture) and corn flour (I love the flavor and again, a cakier and slightly coarser texture). I never sub in for more than 10-25% of the original flour. (I know you're going gluten free, so I'd stick with that, and if you want try subbing in some of the other ingredients I've suggested to play with texture.)

When experimenting, don't change too many things at once or you'll have to go back and figure out what change made the difference. If you want to try more than one thing, try cutting the recipe in half and making two slightly different batches at once.

I usually write down what I want to try next time on my notes right while I'm tasting the finished product, that way I won't forget.

I hope this is helpful. My friends sometimes scoff at my massive notes on recipes and my obsessive search for the perfect meatloaf, enchilada sauce, cookie recipe - whatever - but they all agree that I am an excellent cook and that I make the best cookies in the world. I have one cookie recipe that is so secret even my mom doesn't have it! Various family members have required me to make provisions for that recipe in my will!!

Answer 3

Baking on parchment paper or cooking stones will prevent the bottoms from blackening and will create more consistently baked cookies, but they won't affect the taste as much as the ingredients. I'd have to look at the entire recipie to be sure, but increasing the butter or egg might help. Be careful, though, not to greatly change the proportions of ingredients - there's a certain ratio of liquid to dry ingredients that enables the chemistry there. Also try adding a teaspoon of flavoring such as almond or vanilla.
Try going on a few of the cooking-specific websites, especially those which publish magazines - such as Southern Living or Bon Appetit.

Answer 4

leave her alone she has to make it gluten free other wise she'll have a reaction!!! shes not a health freak ! um i don't no if any of these have gluten in them but you could try adding milk, choco chips, nuts. brown sugar is better than white sugar for cookies if you didn't use brown?? sorry I'm not sure if any of these have gluten in them but if they don't then give them a try. use milk instead of egg!

Answer 5

Since you complained about your cookies being dry, here's a quick fix. After your cookies are baked, cooled, and placed in an air tight storage container, add a slice of any kind of bread to the container. Seal container again (put lid on). Your cookies will draw the moisture out of the piece of bread to become moist, and the piece of bread will become hard (probably after 1 day). Add another piece of bread to the jar, to make cookies moist as needed.

Answer 6

Drop Sugar Cookies
Contributed By: Lizzie
Grandma's Kitchen


Ingredients
2 cups All-purpose flour, sifted
2 teaspoons Baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 Large eggs
3/4 cup Sugar plus additional sugar for topping
2/3 cup Vegetable oil
2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Grated lemon zest

Preparation
1. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl and mix well.





2. Whisk eggs in a large bowl until blended. Add sugar, oil, vanilla extract and lemon zest and mix well. Stir the dry ingredients into egg mixture until blended. Chill, covered, for 30 minutes or longer.





3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.





4. Drop the cookie dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Mist the bottom of a 3-inch flat-bottom glass with water and dip glass in additional sugar. Press the top of each cookie lightly with the glass to flatten, misting glass with water and dipping in sugar before pressing each cookie.





5. Bake cookies until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight containers or freeze for future use.

Cook's Notes
To make cookies with a rich butterscotch flavor, Grandma substituted 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar for the granulated sugar and omitted the lemon zest. She then proceeded as the recipe directed, using granulated sugar for flattening the cookies.

Answer 7

What's gluten & why are you taking it out?

Answer 8

AHHH an alergy... didn't make that clear at first...
try this they have a whole Gluten Free Listing for all sorts of recipes...
http://allrecipes.com/recipes/healthy-living/gluten-free/main.aspx

In particular Peanut Butter Cookies http://allrecipes.com/recipe/perfect-gluten-free-peanut-butter-cookies/detail.aspx

Answer 9

go for baking lessons

Answer 10

GET SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY`RE DOING TO MAKE THEM FOR YOU !