Think all flours are created equal? Think again.
What do penicillin, post-it notes, and champagne have in common? According to legend, they were all invented by accident.
I debated whether or not to write about my sugar cookie experience, because it certainly fell under the category of “accident.” I goofed up the recipe… and in my opinion, ruined the cookies. But as they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
Here’s the story. My grandma has a tried-and-true recipe for sugar cookies, which I’ve made several times before with no problem. But this time, I decided to use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. And since I was in a rush (as usual), I scooped out a tablespoon of baking powder, when the recipe called for a teaspoon.
No big deal, right? Wrong. I watched in horror as my cookies puffed up in the oven, and came out looking like this:
Interestingly enough, the reason I hated these cookies is the reason my husband loved them. They looked (and tasted) like a biscuit/cookie hybrid. I was determined to find out how those two ingredients completely transformed my cookies. In the process, I gave myself a little science lesson.
There are three basic flours: All-Purpose, Bread Flour, and Cake Flour. Each flour has a different protein content. When the protein in flour mixes with water and heat, it makes gluten. The more gluten something has, the thicker and more elastic the dough will be.
Cake Flour: This has the lowest protein content – appx. 6-8%. Cake Flour is made from soft wheat, and is usually bleached, which reduces the protein content even further. Things made with cake flour are typically light and fluffy.
Bread Flour: Bread flour has the highest protein content – between 12-14%. It’s made from hard wheat, and the high protein content means that things made from bread flour are usually thicker and chewier.
All-Purpose Flour: AP flour is a combination of hard wheat and soft wheat, and the protein content is usually 10-11%.
But it wasn’t just the cake flour. The excess baking powder is also responsible. When dough is heated in the oven, baking powder releases carbon dioxide bubbles. This is probably why the dough puffed up like crazy. But it was the cake flour that gave my cookies the fluffy, biscuit-like texture.
Granny is probably looking down at me, laughing at my mistake. And because she has been such a good sport, I’m going to share her sugar cookie recipe with the world:
Ingredients:
1 cup of butter
1 cup of sugar
2 egg yolks, unbeaten
3 cups of All-Purpose Flour (to get my results, use 3 cups of Cake Flour)
1 teaspoon of baking powder (to get my results, use 1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 teaspoon of salt
6 teaspoons of milk
Directions:
Cream the butter. Add sugar and blend, then add the egg yolks and vanilla. Mix well. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour , baking powder and salt. Gradually stir the milk and flour into the wet ingredients. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.
Enjoy!
Soundtrack to this post: Depeche Mode – Wrong
Coming Soon: Boldly going where few food bloggers have gone before: How to handle injuries in the kitchen.
They always say accuracy in baking is imperative – that’s why I don’t like to bake. I’d rather cook, where a little of this and a little of that turn someone else’s recipe into your own. Glad your little misstep turned into a delicious new recipe! Can’t wait to try them.
Granny would never laugh at your mistake. She is, no doubt, looking over your shoulder, guiding you through each recipe that you try. I’m proud that you are so brave. The highest compliment you ever paid me was when you asked for a recipe for some dish I had made and when I told you what was in it..you said “That’s not a recipe..that’s an idea!” I don’t know if it was a compliment, but that’s how I took it.
Mom