Tips for the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

There's nothing better than eating a pile of chocolate chip cookies while drinking a tall glass of ice cold milk. Whether you are a kid or an adult, this time- tested recipe should bring a smile to your face and perhaps make you emit a contented sigh. Oh yes, we all know how to eat those little pieces of heaven, but how exactly do you make them?

Here are some tips to help you:

Delicious Cookie

1) Use the freshest ingredients - This will definitely help you make sure that your cookies are of the premium grade. Remember that old computer principle "Garbage in, Garbage Out"? Well, that works with cookies, too. Despite how well you bake an item, if it's made of crappy ingredients, it won't turn out well.

2) Experiment - Although you might think that your grandma's recipe is the best, you should definitely try to create your own variation of the cookie recipe. The most basic thing you can do is to change the amount of chocolate you put in. Remember that this affects not only the taste, but the texture of the cookie as well. Nestlé's research once showed that people felt that the ideal cookie had to have sic to ten chocolate chips. Only a few people actually wanted more.

Another thing you can do is play around with different types of chocolate. Sure, it would be most convenient for you to use those pre-packaged chocolate chips, but in order to come up with the perfect cookie recipe, you have to live a little and do some hard work. Try chopping up a chocolate bar into chunks. You could also try to use candy-covered chocolate like M&M's to top your cookies.

You should also experiment with other ingredients. Changing around the quantity of shortening, the butter and the shortening can affect the texture of the cookie. You should know that people have different tastes when it comes to the cookie's texture. There are those who like it moist and soft while other like it dry and hard, providing great contrast with the milk and chocolate.

3) Storage - Chocolate has an unbelievably long shelf life. Milk chocolate can actually be stored for about six months, while dark chocolate can be stored for as long as a year. If you intend to store chocolate for your baking needs, you need to make sure that you follow the right procedure.

Store them in sealed containers so as to prevent moisture from seeping through and develop the whitish film called "bloom" on the surface. Although this film is harmless, it can be quite unattractive. You also shouldn't expose your chocolate to hot temperatures. Although freezing is okay if you plan to bake with it, you shouldn't expose it to temperatures above 78 degrees as this may cause it to melt.

You might think that there's vary little difference between melted and solid chocolate if used for baking especially since you can just freeze it and it will turn solid again. However, you should realize that melting actually causes the cocoa butter to separate and your chocolate will lose some of its creaminess.

4) To nut or not to nut - Nuts can be quite controversial in baking a cookie. There are people who swear that nuts make all the difference in their baking while there are those who just hate it. Actually, most Americans prefer their cookies without nuts. This is primarily because of the texture.

If you want the nutty flavor without the texture, you should try grinding some nuts into the mixture instead of adding whole or chopped ones.

5) Burn, baby, burn - A burnt cookie is an inedible cookie. Although the best way to avoid burning your cookies is to maintain constant vigilance, there are a few other steps you should try out. First you should make use of a shiny baking pan. This will help prevent burning. You should also know that when you make use of thin pans, the cookies are likely to burn.

Another thing you should do is make use of only the top and middle racks of the oven. This will help you make sure that the chocolate chip cookies burn evenly and that none are exposed to too high temperatures.

Tips for the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

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Different Types of Cookie Sheets Yield Different Tasting Cookies

Anybody who takes the time to make cookies from scratch obviously wants them to come out perfectly and taste delicious. Mixing ingredients is almost unheard of these days with just about everything being available in pre-mixed or pre-made packages. Most people simply buy a roll of cookie dough, slice it, and stick it in the oven for 15-18 minutes. However, for the individuals out there who still take the time to make their own cookie dough, it's important to know the differences between all the types of sheets available in stores today. There are a multitude of them, and believe it or not, they all yield different results.

Insulated Non-stick Sheet

Delicious Cookie Recipes

Most insulated sheets are made to be non-stick, and because insulated sheets are sometimes on the more expensive side, they tend to resist scratches, chipping, and peeling. Insulated cookie sheets are basically two sheets that have been connected around the edges, which creates a small pocket of air that cannot escape. The air inside of the pocket heats to the set temperature of the oven when the sheet is placed inside.

Insulated cookie sheets are very reliable for evenly baked cookies. Because the air inside the sheet heats to the temperature of the oven, it allows all the cookies on the sheet to cook and brown at the same rate. The evenly heated air prevents the sheet from being hotter in certain spots, which is a common occurrence with regular sheets. In addition to yummy cookies, most insulated sheets are easy to clean because of their non-stick surfaces.

Aluminum

Aluminum cookie sheets are very commonly used. Aluminum conducts heat well which is why cookie sheets made of this material usually produce an evenly baked cookie. The only down side to aluminum is that it sometimes prevents cookies from reaching the perfect shade of brown.

Cookie sheets made of aluminum are very sturdy and they won't rust even if they have to be soaked in water for and extended period of time. Heavy aluminum baking sheets are better to use than the thin types that are available for less money. Thin aluminum sheets can bend and/or warp in a hot oven which can cause cookies to cook unevenly.

Non-Stick Cookie Sheets

When non-stick cookie sheets were invented, a whole new world of baking emerged. The ease of cleaning a cookie sheet with a non-stick surface is amazing, and it practically eliminates the need to butter the sheet before cooking. Washing a non-stick sheet is a breeze and hardly requires anything but a quick scrub.

Non-stick sheets have a surface coating that makes them easy to clean, yet they are still able to produce delicious cookies. Keep in mind that the darker the non-stick surface, the quicker the cookies will brown. Therefore, it's important to read the instructions that come with the sheet to find out if the manufacturer recommends that the oven's cooking temperature be lowered to compensate. It may be necessary to lower the temperature of the oven by about 25 degrees.

In conclusion, cookie sheets can be made of a number of different types of materials, or even a combination of materials. Every sheet will yield a different end result for the same exact cookie recipe. The darker the sheet, the faster the cookies will brown because a dark sheet absorbs heat more readily and transfers the heat directly to the cookies. Aluminum cookie sheets are good conductors of heat but are not good for ensuring that the cookies will brown. Insulated cookie sheets will ensure evenly baked cookies no matter how they are spaced on the sheet. For best results, try out a cookie recipe on all three types of sheets and determine which yields the desired results.

Different Types of Cookie Sheets Yield Different Tasting Cookies

This article has been provided by Debbie Dragon with ReliableWriters.com. Reliable Writers has a team of ebook writers that can write quality ebooks on virtually any topic.