Answers to life's vexing cooking questions...
Recreating the Perfect Cookie Dough
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Q. Consumer Reports once did an article on the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie, with their own tested recipe. I tried it and sure enough, it was the best I'd ever tasted. However, I've never been able to repeat my first success. I've concluded that the key is this line from the recipe: "The mix (after sugars, butter and eggs are beaten together) should look creamed not curdled." No matter what I do, I get a mix that resembles very small-curd cottage cheese. I've tried mixing lightly, or mixing well, at each addition, and making sure butter and eggs are room temperature. The only change I've had to make in the recipe is that since I don't have a stand-type electric mixer, I have to beat by hand. Since this made no difference the first time, I can't believe this is an insurmountable problem. Can you help?A. It is not insurmountable at all — the butter is too warm. It doesn’t have to be straight from the refrigerator, but if the butter is at room temperature, especially on a warm summer day, the batter will be too loose, greasy and will resemble curds. With cooler butter, you have to use more elbow-grease to cream the butter and sugar together, but that is a vital step, and although our children can’t imagine it, people have been doing it by hand for generations. After the butter and sugar are really well blended, add an egg and mix thoroughly to incorporate it before adding the next one.
And would it be out of line to ask you to share the recipe with the rest of us???
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