Live And Learn ~ Cake Flour And Cookies...

Baking By kellertur Updated 29 Dec 2008 , 3:49am by kellertur

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kellertur Posted 25 Dec 2008 , 5:27am
post #1 of 6

Well, I just learned the hard way that cake flour isn't the best choice for making chocolate chip cookies... I was rushing to finish family cookie baskets and grabbed my cake flour. BIG mistake. They taste good, but they spread way out and flattened. icon_sad.gif

(I've used cake flour for my "sugar cookies" with GREAT success....infact, I get the best results that way. ~but NOT chocolate chip. Weird... icon_confused.gif)

Any tips for the future?

thanks ~ icon_smile.gif

5 replies
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MichelleM77 Posted 26 Dec 2008 , 6:16pm
post #2 of 6

Oh no, cake flour is the only thing I make my chocolate chip cookies with. I do bake them in a jelly roll pan because with all butter they do turn into a pancake, but I don't like my cookies chewy. They are soft and moist with cake flour (I made some Tuesday night on the fly and only had a little cake flour, so they were made moistly with AP and they were chewy and yucky, but they were going into a trifle so I didn't care). I love the texture of cake flour in my chocolate chip, learned that from Alton. icon_smile.gif I use his puffy recipe except I use all butter. I use less chocolate chips too. I like to have a little cookie with my chocolate chips. icon_smile.gif So try them in a jelly roll pan (I line a 15x10 cookie pan that has sides with parchment and then spread it out; one batch of cookie dough) and cut them with a round cookie cutter when they are still warm. That way you get lots of scraps to put on your ice cream!

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kellertur Posted 26 Dec 2008 , 11:45pm
post #3 of 6

Thanks Michelle ~ maybe it was the butter because this recipe called for LOTS. I'll try cutting back on the chocolate chips too. I was hoping for a thicker cookie to support the weight of the chips. I don't own a jelly roll pan, but I may try that. They were a HUGE hit, so atleast they tasted great. icon_rolleyes.gif

thanks for responding ~ icon_smile.gif

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JanH Posted 27 Dec 2008 , 7:25pm
post #4 of 6

When substituting cake flour for AP, the exchange rate isn't 1:1, it's 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sifted cake flour:1 cup AP.

So the (unintentional) decrease in total flour needed was probably also a factor.

Handy baking ingredients substitutions charts:

http://www.joyofbaking.com/IngredientSubstitution.html

Another important difference is that ALL cake flour is BLEACHED, but not all AP flour (Ceresota, being the first brand that comes to mind).

Cake flour vs. AP flour:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-6175365-.html

Alton Brown's Chocolate Chip Cookies...

Chewy:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/the-chewy-recipe/index.html

Puffy:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/the-puffy-recipe/index.html

Thin:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/the-thin-recipe/index.html

Chewy Gluten Free:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/the-thin-recipe/index.html

HTH

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MichelleM77 Posted 28 Dec 2008 , 1:20am
post #5 of 6

I think my recipe uses 2 sticks of butter (1 cup I think?). I also used 1-1/2 cups of chips and the recipe called for 2. Not a huge difference really, but they were still packed with chips!

I don't technically have a jelly roll pan either, I just use a cookie sheet that is 15x10 and has sides/walls. I cannot make a regular chocolate chip cookie to save my life! I like using all butter and no matter how much I chill the dough, they spread like pancakes. I'm glad I finally found a way to make chocolate chip cookies that look as good as they taste! icon_smile.gif

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kellertur Posted 29 Dec 2008 , 3:49am
post #6 of 6

thanks for all the tips...

(JanH ~ how do you know all this stuff??? It's amazing icon_eek.gif )

I feel like a mad scientist this week. madhatter.gif BUT on the up side, a local cafe is going to start selling my whoopie pies next week!!
(I just wanted to share... icon_smile.gif )

Thanks again ~ icon_smile.gif

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