Cooking For Engineers

[mumu33]

Can someone tell me why you flatten drop cookie dough after you drop it from the scooper? Some of the recipes seen tell you to flatten the cookie dough right after you use a scooper or use the spoons. I normally thought this only done on cookies that u roll into a ball. Wouldnt the cookies spread on their own after drop them from the scooper or spoons,is there a reason why u would flatten them? Newbie in baking.

Mumu

[mumu33]

I guess i will rephrase my question in hopes someone will answer. Why do you need to flatten your cookie dough after you drop it on the sheet. I am asking bec. I have two choc. chip recipes and one says to flatten after you drop the cookie and the other doesnt say this, does any one have any helpful advice on why you would need to flatten the cookie? Is it only for the cookie to have a better roundness or what? Newbie in baking and would like to know if there is some kind of theory or rule you follow when to flatten cookies and when not too. Any comments would really be helpful. How do you determine when flatten them and not?

P.S. By the way both cookie recipes are exacat. the same except for the flattening of the dough.
Mumu

[Dilbert]

Hi Mumu -

whether a cookie dough will flatten depends on how wet it is - and potentially on how much fat / temperature sensitive material - is in the dough.

wet doughs, high fat doughs tend to flatten out / spread as they heat.

a few "styles" - sugar / peanut butter cookies - are traditional with raised ridges from flattening.

and obviously, heavy dense doughs will bake more evenly if they are physically more even in thickness.

I wouldn't lose a lot of sleep because one recipe says flatten and the other doesn't - after you make a batch you'll probably formulate your own opinion / preference.