Schedule for Baking and How It Works

General Information:

I have two different cookie recipes down for each team. The first is the primary recipe. The second is an optional recipe that the teams should make provide there is time. In most cases, there should be time to make both recipes but the second recipe should be the recipe to skip in the event something comes up and there isn't enough time to make both.

Please try to make two dozen cookies if the recipe makes medium or large cookies. Try to make four dozen cookies for recipes that yield small cookies. We will have bags for each student and a couple of gift boxes that we will divide the cookies among as we bake. Please think about who you would like to see the gift boxes go to. (There is more about this on my blog page.)

The first teams will be putting cookies into the oven around 9:00 so that we should be through baking by 1:00. We will reconvene as a group at 1:00 to distribute the cookies, briefly discussing how the cooking went, and do any remaining cleaning. My hope is that we will all be done by 1:30 or so.

Recipes:

Start the day before, in oven at 9:00:

Butter Cookies 1: Recipe based on simple ratios. (Recipe to be distributed.)
Butter Cookies 2: Buttery Jelly-Jeweled Cookies, Bakewise, page 386.

Pecan Sandies: Cook's Illustrated. http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=7246
Cookie Cutter Cookies: (Recipe to be distributed.)

One day, in oven at 10:00:

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies: Alton Brown's. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/the-chewy-recipe/index.html
Thin Chocolate Chip Cookies: Alton Brown's. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/the-thin-recipe/index.html

Peanut Butter Cookies 1: Cook's Illustrated. http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=5476
Peanut Butter Cookies 2: E-Z Delicious Peanut Butter Cookies, Bakewise, page 383.

One day, in oven at 11:00:

Sugar Cookies: Cook's Illustrated. http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=5066
Brown Sugar Cookies: Cook's Illustrated. http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=8173

Spritz Cookies: Cook's Illustrated. http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=6347
Oatmeal Cookies: Cook's Illustrated. http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=11850 (w/ video)

One day, in oven at 12:00:

Snickerdoodles: (Recipe to be distributed.)
Shortbreads: Cook's Illustrated. http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=20861 (w/ video)

Lemon Bars: Cook's Illustrated. http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=5500
Blondies: Cook's Illustrated. http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=6652

Comments

There are obviously a lot of other cookies we could have made: almond, biscotti, sables, macaroons, meringue cookies, molasses cookies, ... Unfortunately, there is just too little time. We'll come back and make a few more on the cooking with chocolate day including a triple chocolate cookie, one more chocolate chip cookie recipe, and a couple of types of brownies.

Some of these cookies are paired to illustrate some interesting properties about cookies. The two butter cookies show the difference between a generic recipe and one that has been optimized. The two sugar cookies highlight the difference between an general but optimized cookie recipe and one that has been tweaked toward a particular flavor profile. The two chocolate chip cookies demonstrate some basic cookie chemistry and how small changes affect the overall structure/texture of the cookies.

Other cookies are included to demonstrate various cookie techniques: cookie-cutter cookies, spritz-cookies, bar cookies, etc. The rest are classic cookie choices.

Interim 2010: Baking and How it Works Joe Sloan Class Notes for January 8: Cookie Recipes