Big Gourmet Cookies

do you mean gourmet as in taste or design???? What type do you think you want to do and in big do you mean as big as a cake pan type or just a larger cookie???
I do a lot of cookies for a bakery so I am trying to get an idea of what you mean. I see those giant chocolate chip cookies in malls with frosting decorating them.... big but not what I consider gourmet.

Any recipe can be made larger.

scp1127 is correct. For each recipe a bakery uses, the dough is scooped (or rolled out) into whatever size is needed. If you have favorite recipes, start with 1/4 cup of dough, flatten lightly, and add a few minutes bake time. Leave room between each cookie; you won't fit that many on a cookie sheet. Depending on the size you want, make adjustments to the amount of dough in each cookie.

This is my most popular cookie! So moist and flavorful! Just google Jumbo Molasses Cookie Recipe and it's from Taste of Home. Enjoy!

I visited my favorite vegan and vegetarian bakery the other day. She had a giant coconut macaroon, one side dipped in chocolate. It was the size of a full dessert serving and was about $4 or $5. It was delicious.

Google NY Times Best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. These are BIG! And really delicious. There have been a number of bloggers who wrote about them too. The only downside is the dough has to sit in the refrigerator for 36 hours!

Just about every one of my cookie doughs rest in the refrigerator at least overnight. Off hand, I can't think of one that doesn't. Even my brownies go in for about 30 minutes. There is plenty of information on the benefits of this rest period. The use of cold dough is just common sense. Some recipes, especially my chocolate chip cookies, actually start with melted butter. It seems to be a recurring practice among some baking experts. I have found it to make a slightly better cookie and I am always in persuit of a better product.

Other than some spritz recipes, hottendots and sugar cookie recipes, I can't recall coming across very many cookie recipes that say to rest the dough in the refrigerator. I know refrigeration is often suggested for when doing cut outs (whether it's sugar cookie, ginger bread, etc.). But for it to be "common sense?"

I make absolutely no claim to being an artisan or even a professional, but if it were common sense, then I'd imagine it would be written about quite a bit in the everyday recipe books. However, if it is now being established as a way to produce a finer quality cookie, then I'd say it's an improved technique or practice, not something that is common amongst the cookie makers, whether you are a professional or a home baker.

Thanks for the advice on refrigerating cookie doughs. I will have to give it a try the next time I make a different type of cookie (other than sugar).

A very quick google search produced this: http://www.ochef.com/1509.htm

Again, thanks for bringing this information to light. I love learning from others. When I get a chance to do a bit more research on the matter (a cake awaits me at home right now to bake), I look forward to reading more about it.

Spooky, top pastry chefs are getting very scientific in their approach to baking. I think that's why you see so much science referenced here. With the internet and these great bakers writing books, we bakers now have a wealth of knowledge to gain from them.

Alton Brown started it for me. Then there are so many others. Bakers with a more scientific approach include Alice Medrich (cookies, sp, book not near me), David Lebovitz, GesineBullock-Prado, Sarah Beth Levine, Joanne Chang (former Harvard chemist/engineer), Warren Brown, Dorie Greenspan, and of course RLB and Shirley Corriher.

I could go on with many more. These bakers are happy to share their knowledge in their best-selling books.

When you learn the "whys", it make it so much easier to develop your own recipes, make changes in the ones you already love to make them even better, and most of all, to develop your own style.

As you may see, this is a real love of mine and I have found so many bakers on CC who are just as passionate to get to the real soul of baking. That is why I get irritated when the issue of "box is the same as scratch" comes up by some unknowing poster. Some of us have really worked to develop our skills. And we are willing to share them on CC when we aren't verbally beat up for it.

There is a whole network of scratch recipes shared behind the scenes through pm's on CC by artisan bakers who develop recipes. Many times if you see someone talk about a recipe, sometimes they may be willing to share on a pm. Just ask. I do.

On the same subject, there is another trend that suggests melting the butter, mixing the dough, then refrigerating to solidify again before baking. It's an easy google search too.

I do this on some doughs, but it's not a rule. I first learned this on AB's chocolate chip cookies (the recipe I use, of course, with changes). The dough is much more homogenous and seems to just stay chewier than any I've tried, with a crispy outside. With modifications, this is my giant cookie and my 4" cookie favorite. It can also accept tons of additional flavors.