any ATOT bakers in the house?

[nageov3t]

so, I've got this cookie recipe that I used back in christmas... it's basically a chocolate dough with roasted nuts mixed in, then baked.

the raw dough was amazing. better than any cookie dough I've ever tasted.

but when baked, instead of staying roughly cookie-shaped, they flattened out and were more disc-like.

any thoughts on what to add to the batter to make them cookie-like? I've been considering baking them in texas muffin pans, just to prevent them from flattening out, but there's got to be an easier solution...

recipe:

4 packages chocolate chips
1 cup unsalted butter
5 eggs
4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 cups walnuts (toasted)
4 cups pecans (toasted)

preheat oven to 350, line baking pan with parchment paper.
in large saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter over low heat. remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed until the mixture forms a slowly dissolving ribbon on the surface when the beaters are lifted.
beat in the vanilla extract.
with the mixture on low, gradually add the chocolate mixture and blend thoroughly.

in a small bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder together well.
on low speed, beat in the dry ingredients.
add the nuts and blend in.

scoop the dough only the baking sheet, refigerate for 10 minutes.
flatten each cookie with the bottom of a measuring cup (I didn't do this).
bake in the center of the oven until slightly cracked on top, about 16 minutes.

I'm thinking about trying this again this weekend, sans nuts.... and half-way through typing that recipe, I started to wonder if I used baking soda instead of baking powder.

I'll have to check my baking powder later and see if it's opened.

 

[OdiN]

does it have baking powder or baking soda in the recipe?

Really would need to see the ingredients in order to venture a guess.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

You probably have too high a butter to flour ratio

 

[Manuwell]

Try to leave the dough overnight in the fridge. Than put the ice-cold dough on the baking-sheet and throw the damn thing in the oven. That could work.

 

[jpeyton]

I have been baking for over 20 years, achieving the rank of Master in The Bread Bakers Guild of America.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: Hayabusa Rider
You probably have too high a butter to flour ratio

my first thought. personally, i like it when my cookies get thin n crispy sometimes

i made a killer batch over the holidays that were thin and crispy, and people inhaled them.

 

[1EZduzit]

I have no idea but this is the internet so noboody knows that.

I'd try stiffening the mixture up with more flour.

 

[ja1484]

Originally posted by: loki8481
chocolate dough with nuts mixed in,

That wasn't chocolate.

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: Hayabusa Rider
You probably have too high a butter to flour ratio

Or be using margarine instead of butter - works for some, not for others.

Problem is we don't know what the recipe called for, nor what the instructions are, so I don't know what to suggest.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
I have been baking for over 20 years, achieving the rank of Master in The Bread Bakers Guild of America.

wtf

 

[nageov3t]

recipe posted in the OP

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

make sure your baking soda is not expired.

also, using shortening instead of butter can produce more "cake-like" cookies.

 

[nageov3t]

I am indeed not a smart man.

I found my can of baking powder buried at the back of the shelf, totally sealed and unopened

 

[biggestmuff]

They're flattening because the majority of your ingredients liquify when heated. There doesn't seem to be enough flour to help hold the ingredients together.

Are you flattening the dough into a cookie shape then baking them? If so, just try making balls and baking them that way. That could be the problem or part of the problem to the above.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
They're flattening because the majority of your ingredients liquify when heated. There doesn't seem to be enough flour to help hold the ingredients together.

Are you flattening the dough into a cookie shape then baking them? If so, just try making balls and baking them that way. That could be the problem or part of the problem to the above.

these cookies are not intended to remain "cookie-like." and theres no way its going to happen, like you said, it has *a lot* of meltable ingredients and almost no flour.

whered the recipe come from, OP?

the batter tastes delicious because its got a massive amount of chocolate, sugar and eggs (ive *never* seen a recipe so high on all of those, with so little flour)

 

[ktehmok]

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
They're flattening because the majority of your ingredients liquify when heated. There doesn't seem to be enough flour to help hold the ingredients together.

Are you flattening the dough into a cookie shape then baking them? If so, just try making balls and baking them that way. That could be the problem or part of the problem to the above.

these cookies are not intended to remain "cookie-like." and theres no way its going to happen, like you said, it has *a lot* of meltable ingredients and almost no flour.

whered the recipe come from, OP?

the batter tastes delicious because its got a massive amount of chocolate, sugar and eggs (ive *never* seen a recipe so high on all of those, with so little flour)

Yep, you need more flour.

Trial & error, then post what works.

 

[timswim78]

Originally posted by: Hayabusa Rider
You probably have too high a butter to flour ratio

Yea, I'm thinking that anything with that much butter is going to spread thin and become crispy.

 

[fatpat268]

Generally, when I have make cookies, I have more flour than sugar in the recipe.

4 cups of sugar for 3/4 cups flour? wow

 

[CraKaJaX]

I love baking when I'm at home. :thumbsup:

Cooking in general is always relaxing for me.

And about the recipe....

how can you go wrong with chocolate and nuts?

 

[Savarak]

wow, thats not dough... thats just sugar balls

 

[BoomerD]

My wife is a "journeyman baker". She's baked commercially since before I met her, and has often talked about opening her own shop.

She says the sugar/butter/chocolate chip to flour ration is way wrong to have "solid" cookies. The current receipe will melt into puddles. Double check the receipe. For them to stand up, either you'll need to add more flour, or perhaps, you've transposed the amounts of sugar & flour. With a stick of butter and four packages of chocolate chips, you basically will have a melted puddle of sweet-chocolaty goodness...but NOT cookies.

 

[nageov3t]

thanks for all the advice

it was actually 2 packages of chocolate chips (well, 4 6 oz packages, but the standard US package is 12 oz).

an extra 1 cup of flower did the trick... of course, it took about 3 hours of trial by error to get to that point I also took out the walnuts, though I still added the 4 cups of toasted pecans. I half considered salting them.

they came out pretty good, though the next time I make them, I might add a teaspoon or two of maple extract.

now I need to go eat a salad before I go into a sugar coma after eating the trial batches.

 

[sactoking]

As others said (and you confirmed) your wet-dry ratio is off. Additionally, you can try these other tips:

Switch from AP Flour to Cake Flour. Cake flour is 'softer' than AP. It has less gluten and is lighter, allowing the batter to rise better when cooked.

Increase the number of eggs. The light protein in albumen will set slowly allowing the cookie to puff without collapsing as it cools.

Switch from butter to butter-flavored shortening. Shortening has a higher melting point than butter, so it won't ooze and spread when the pan goes into the oven.

Replace some of the white sugar with brown. Brown sugar has molasses, which contributes moisture. The moisture will evaporate when baked, increasing the lift of the cookie due to steam production.

 

[alkemyst]

I was baker acted once, what do you want to know?