Flans, (that's "fans of the blog" in my mind)
If the above question is one of the sweet, sweet mysteries of life for you and you'd prefer it remain mysterious, please, do not read on. Hit your back button. Go ahead. I shan't be offended.
OK, for those of you remaining, much like "do scrambled eggs reheat well," the above question is one that I can't believe I haven't thought about until recently.
My instinct was that it should have something to do with the butter/flour ratio, but preliminary web research revealed to me that the relative adjustment of those two ingredients increases either the crispiness or the fluffiness aspect of cookies, but not necessarily that glorious x-factor that is chewiness. No, any cookie recipe I found that specifically had "chewy" in its title had the inclusion of one ingredient I have never actually used in baking cookies: corn syrup.
I bristled at this. Michael Pollan taught me to fear corn syrup. That while corn is an evolutionary badass for its ability to adapt, it isn't so awesome in either the human nor bovine diets. So naturally my next question was:
"What can you use to replace corn syrup?" to which I found little evidence to suggest that one should. Maple syrup, agave, molasses, even simple syrup were bound to mess with the flavor, and may interrupt one's quest for perfect "chewiness." Which lead me to:
"Why corn syrup?" I'm no scientist, but it seems that the answer to this question (in the interest of full disclosure, understand that I barely went more than one page deep into this), simply put, has to do with the crystallization of particular sweeteners at particular temperatures. Corn syrup is going to best retain its unique viscosity (i.e., chewiness) at the temperature you most want to be eating cookies. That is, any temperature. If I'm going to be eating cookies in Hades, dammit, I want them to be chewy!
So, as I was about to proceed making cookies with an ingredient that I had previously shunned, I needed one more source of validation. So I asked Maureen, my go-to pastry chef, whether she was instructed to use corn syrup in pastry school. Her answer?
"Yeah...I remember using it in pastry school, but not that much...." (At this point in her voicemail, I'm feeling a little defeated. That maybe corn syrup is just a cheater shortcut for those who don't get to go to pastry school.)
"...but seriously though, we use it at the restuarant ALL THE TIME..."
Now Maureen works at a fancy restaurant. Very fancy. (As in, the one time I went actually for dinner they brought out mini-courses between the courses like a single sugar snap pea wrapped in lardo that actually made me squeal.) And one of the bonuses of knowing and loving Maureen is that if you go to said restaurant with a companion, sit at the bar and each order a glass of wine and a single dessert, you will end up with 5 or 6 desserts, "care of the kitchen." There is nothing funnier than the look on your fellow diners' faces than when the bartender is casually passing 6 desserts your way, never losing his eloquent demeanor befitting of a fancy restaurant, politely saying "Maureen sent out a few extra." Needless to say I have sampled quite a bit of this establishment's dessert menu (www.gramercytavern.com), and if they give me the go-ahead on corn syrup, I'm in.
So is this one of the ways in which the quest for high cuisine and the quest for the smallest possible carbon footprint undercut each other? Maybe. But for now, Michael Pollan be damned. These cookies better be f'in chewy. I'll let you know how they turn out.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
My cookies are usually "chewy" and I think it is due to the amount of time I bake them. As in if the recipe says 9-11 minutes, they are out at 9 min exactly. Even if they look a little under done, the heat of the rest of the cookie will finish cooking them while they sit (if you can wait). We can talk about it more at lunch ;)
ReplyDeleteYes, I know that erring on the side of under-cooking will prevent cookies from becoming too crispy or crunchy, but if a certain recipe is butter-heavy, it isn't the cooking time itself that will make the difference. Shortbread, for instance, will never be chewy. It isn't meant to be.
ReplyDeleteI rarely make anything other than chocolate chip cookies. And I make good chocolate chip cookies. I use whole wheat flour and the tollhouse recipe. People love them. Not as much as crack brownies.
ReplyDeleteThe cookies you made were quite good. Mathew even deemed them chewy.
Well, there you have it folks. 6 out of 6 people who've eaten said cookies have proclaimed them chewy. Andy also thanked me for including peanut butter. Long live corn syrup.
ReplyDelete