Conference turris::cooks

      
    
       I know this works with some cookie recipies.  Try under cooking
    them.  Toll House cookies are great under cooked.  Nice and chewy!
    

    I find cookies come out cakier if I use a mixer, rather than mixing by
    hand. Also baking soda, baking powder and eggs can affect the cakiness
    of things. If you use all butter in Toll House cookies the spread out
    more than if you use margarine or a combination of butter and
    shortening. 
    
    I'd try cooking them a couple of minutes less than the recipe calls for
    first, then play around with ingredients if necessary.

  Adding baking soda or baking powder will make cookies and cakes come
  out lighter and drier. Adding fats (shortening, butter, oil) will make
  them moister. Adding sugar will make cookies chewier and heavier
  without cutting the amount of rising action from the leavening agent.
  Eggs have some effect on the chewiness, but have more effect on the
  crumbliness (they bind the dry ingredients). Adding liquids (like
  milk) will require a longer cooking time, which will result in a
  firmer (or tougher, depending on the final product) texture (the
  binding ingredients set more). It gets a little complicated when you
  realize that most ingredients interact and affect each other to some
  extent, and also when you realize that some ingredients have more than
  one function (e.g., eggs not only bind, but can provide "loft" if you
  beat air into them; sugar affects both texture and taste, etc). 

  If you do enough experimental baking (i.e., where you don't follow the
  recipe exactly), you can learn to predict what will happen, and can
  adjust recipes more to your liking. Also, you can detect potential
  disasters before they occur. For example, variability in ingredients
  can lead to unexpected results: gluten and moisture content in flour,
  strength of baking powder, size of eggs, etc. You can "feel" that your
  batter or dough has something wrong with it and correct the problem
  before you commit it to the oven.

    I tried some again last night and have a few comments which might help
    you point me in the right direction. I made up the Betty Crocker recipe
    which is exactly the same as the one on the back of the Nestle
    chocolate chips bag except it uses one egg instead of two. The first
    tray did not spread at all - the mixture was very thick and it just sat
    there - hence the " cakey " description I mentioned earlier. Now betty
    suggests adding some mike if they don't spread - so I did that - about
    two tablespoons. The next lot spread a little but not much. The third 
    batch got even more milk and they did sort of spread - but still not as
    thin as the ones you get in the LKG caff !. Also the kids reported that
    they did not taste so good. What gives here ?
    
    Rod
    

    For what it's worth, I find that cookies made with margarine spread
    more than those made with butter.  It really does make a difference.
    I don't know if this will help with the basic texture of your cookies,
    though.
    
    Did you ask the people in the LKG cafeteria for their recipe?  The
    ones here in APO are very large, flat, and tend to be more sugary
    than the ones I make at home.  (I also suspect they don't use butter.)
    They tend to be best when they're fresh out of the oven, and they
    don't last very long.
    
    --Karen

    
    I make the tollhouse cookies on the back of the back of chocolate
    chips.  I follow the recipe exact, except I add an extra 1/2 cup
    of flour and cook less than it says.  They usually come out spread
    out just perfect, but not too flat.  
    
    janice

    
    I made some last night, and remembered one thing...
    
    You can use an electric mixer for the butter/sugar/eggs, but when
    you add the flour mixture in, mix it in by hand.  This definately
    makes them better!