Dear Christmas Cookie Elves,
Why did some of my Christmas cookies not turn out this year?
I had fresh baking soda. The butter and eggs were brought to room temperature. The dough was properly chilled.
I made two nearly identical batches of my traditional cookies – a modified chocolate chip variety.
The first batch turned out perfectly – the best I’ve ever made. They were light and fluffy and oh so tasty. Finally, I had it right.
When I got done scooping and baking those three dozen cookies, I took a little break and then got started on the second batch.
That batch, however, did not turn out near as well as the first and I’m not sure why.
I handled the dough and ingredients the same way – same baking soda, room temp eggs and butter, chilled batter.
The cookie sheets were properly cooled and the oven was set to the same temp.
There were just two differences in this batter – I added a teaspoon of cinnamon and used 1 ¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour with 1 cup all purpose flour instead of the 2 ¼ cups AP flour the first batch had.
No, I wasn’t trying to make it healthier – I ran out of AP flour.
Can the change of flour really change the batter’s consistency so much?
The dough behaved the same as the first batch. It dropped onto the cookie sheets just like the other. There was no indication that anything was wrong.
So why did the second batch flatten out?
The good news, if there is any, is that both batches taste yummy.
Here’s hoping Santa doesn’t mind flat and crispy cookies!
Sincerely,
Debbie
