Preparation of cookies

Preparation of cookies

Cookies are baked or cooked items that are small, flat and sweet. It is prepared using flour, sugar and some type of oil or fat. 

Other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips and nuts are added, to enhance the taste, appearance and variety.

Types of Cookies

1. Drop Cookies: These are made from relatively soft dough that is dropped by spoonful on to the baking sheet. During bak-ing, the mounds of dough spread and flatten. Chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies and rock cookies are popu-lar examples of drop cookies.

Ingredients                     Quantity

Maida                                      : 2½ cups

Butter                                      : 1 cup

Sugar                                       : 1 cup

Egg                                           : 1

Milk                                          : 2 table spoons

Vanilla essence                     : 1 teaspoon

Salt           : a pinch

Method

·        Preheat oven to 190°C.

·        Lightly coat 2 cookie sheets with veg-etable oil.

·        Sift flour, baking powder and salt together.

·        Beat egg yolks in a mixer bowl until pale and thick.

·        In a clean mixer bowl, with clean beat-ers, beat egg whites to soft peaks.

·        Beat in sugar 1 table spoon at a time, until stiff and glossy.

·        Gently fold egg yolks into egg whites.

·        Fold in dry ingredients and milk until just blended.

·        Drop by level tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets.

·        Bake for 10 minutes or until golden.

·        Carefully transfer to wire racks to cool.

2. Stiff Batter Cookies: These are pre-pared from a stiff dough. It is made stiffer by refrigerating before cutting and bak-ing. Then rolled into cylinders which are sliced into round cookies before slicing. Pinwheel cookies are the best example.

3. Meringue Cookies: These are light, airy, sweet, and crisp because whipped egg whites and sugar are the base ingre-dients. It is a gluten – free sweet cookie, without flour.

4. Sponge Cookies: These are light and airy like the meringue cookies but whole egg is used instead of only egg whites.

Tips for baking Cookies and Biscuits

·     Make sure that ingredients are at room temperature before starting.

·     Make sure that the cookie dough is nice and cold before baking.

·     Do not over mix dough when baking cookies.

·     Use powdered sugar instead of flour to roll out dough.

·     Cool the cookies and biscuits com-pletely before storing, otherwise the steam will soften it up.