Fat and Sugar Content: Breads vs. Cookies

.>hard. Am I going in the wrong direction?

There is no point in comparing the ingredient performance in some different products due to the fact that the usage rate is also different.

Bread dough structure is different from cookie dough

In the bread dough the flour is optimally hydrated but not in cookie dough

In the bread dough the sugar comes into solution but not in the cookie dough where its a large part of it is still intact admixed with unhydrated flour.

What makes the cookie crispier is the presence of undissolved sugars admixed with un hydrated flour which is loosely bound by the minimal gluten formed from incomplete flour hydration. Due to The lesser amount of moisture in cookies makes it dry faster during the baking process promoting crispier texture

Excellent explanation! My baking instructor couldn't give any kind of answer other than, "It's the formula." Your answer was scientific, and that's the kind of education I want to get, but I don't think I'm going to get it at school. I'll have to get some of the more advanced books that are available.

Thank you very much. ?

Rich Hollenbeck

My pleasure... BTW....don't expect most baking instructors to be technically capable of answering in depth questions related to baking.... Most of them are just qualified tradesman ...or just skill oriented... but not trained to look at the molecular basis of baking..

There are some books that discuss the technical sides of baking to a layman...I am sure a lot of other people here can share you the author and title with you.

Another thing is were you able to ask your baking instructor about the issues you encountered with your hard rolls?

Sugar in cookies, at least the sugar in 'crisp' cookies most definitel comes into solution. The sensation of a crisp cookie does not come fro the sandy texture of undissolved sugar. The heat that crisp cookies ar baked at is sufficient enough to dissolve the sugar, evaporate water an glass the sugar into an amorphous solid. It is this hard candy lik solid that gives crispy cookies their texture.

The hydration of the flour doesn't play a role in the crispiness o cookies. If this was true than a dough left in the refrigerato overnight (i.e. fully hydrated) wouldn't be less crispy than a doug bake immediately. This is not the case.

A low water environment certainly plays a case in the glassing of th sugar solution, but it's enough water to hydrate the flour fully

-- scott123

I doubt about that it applies to all cookies and many of them vary in the amount moisturizing agent added.

The melting and recrystallization of the sugars is a major factor of crispiness( its unfortunate that I missed that in my abbreviated early explanation) but that can be modified by the type of flour as well as the fat content..

Take note not all the sugars comes into solution as some of the sugar granules are bound by the gluten.

Cookie texture by the way is influenced by the formulation and not all cookie are crisp. Textured.

. The sensation of a crisp cookie does not come from =EF=83=98 the sandy texture of undissolved sugar.

To consider that all the sugars can be dissolved in water in which the flour gluten .competes with the sugar( for the water) is not absolutely true

This led to a question=E2=80=A6 How about the use of slightly higher gluten flours that tends to affect the crispiness as well? If the flour is not partly hydrated then how did it happen that such flours used in some cookie recipes tend to make it more crispy textured than normal cookie flour.? The degree of snap by done by compression test confirms that a cookie flour that has slightly higher protein than the normal cookie flour can influence it by increasing the crispness. If the cookie flour is slightly diluted with starch the crispiness is reduced also... But too much flour protein can significantly reduce the snap due to the toughening effect.

Therefore to consider sugar as the absolute reason for crispiness is not true. It can be influenced by other ingredients as well.

There are certain cookie in other countries somewhat related to the short dough that does not have added water in it but just the limited amount of eggs put in the mix. Now the egg is approximately 75% water and having the binding effect of albumen that may prevent the water in it from completely imbibed by the sugar and the flour. How can you ascertain that such liquid added is enough to hydrate the flour.? If you knead the dough by hand you will see that there is not much gluten formation. (Or even by spindle mixing there is still not enough water to completely hydrate the flour.) And you can feel that there is no coherence in some freshly mixed cookie dough

Looking it under the microscope confirms it that there are plenty of the called flour wedge protein( which the gluten emanates) is intact . Another thing also if you compare the hydration of the bread dough and the cookie dough under a powerful microscope the degree of formation of gluten fibrils that is ejected from the protein particles is not so extensive in the cookie dough if compared to the bread dough as there is competition for the available moisture between flour and other significant quantities soluble ingredients in the cookie formula.

In addition to that many cookies are not baked a higher temperature that occurs in the oven band where here there are different heat zones that vary in temperature that can influence the so called heat induced dissolution of sugars. Some of the home made cookies in other countries are baked at just

175 degree C just until the cookie spreads and is then taken out to cool. You can feel the sandiness and the crispness depending on the cookie formulation (and the method used in making it) at the same time when you taste the cookies later on.

Again if you look a cookie in the microscope there are portions of sugar granules that looks intact..Setting aside the glassy formation due to melted and recrystallized sugar which are coarser this means not all sugar comes into dissolution during the baking process. The slight amount of gluten can entrap this fine sugar granules preventing it from being melted together with the bulk of the sugars that is mainly responsible for the glassines or crispiness

Crispness is not only a function of the sugar melting and recrystallization but is influenced by other ingredients in the cookie as well.

Or a Scots shortbread, with nothing but the 20% (+/-?) water in the butter!

Dave