Have you ever wondered why cookies rise or what makes them chewy or crispy? Today, we explore the science of cookies and uncover the secrets behind your favorite ingredients and their roles in baking. Plus, we’ve got a list of fun, educational activities you can enjoy with your family at home, making this National Cookie Day not only tasty but also a learning adventure! Understanding the science of cookies can transform your baking experience.
Ingredient Exploration
As we dive deeper into the science of cookies, we will examine how various ingredients interact, affecting everything from flavor to texture.
Sugar comes from sugarcane and sugar beets. The sugarcane plant has been grown for over 4,000 years in tropical regions. It’s harvested, crushed to extract juice, and then purified, boiled, and crystallized to become the sugar we use in cookies. Explore the sugar-making process by visiting Australia’s Wilmar-Sugar mill.
Cocoa beans, the magic behind chocolate, come from the cacao tree in the Amazon rainforest. The beans are harvested, fermented, dried, roasted, and ground to make chocolate.
Flour is made from wheat, one of the oldest and most important crops. After wheat is harvested, it’s cleaned, milled into a fine powder, and sometimes enriched with extra vitamins and minerals.
Butter starts with cows’ milk. The milk is separated to get the cream, which is then churned to make butter. After washing to remove buttermilk, it might be salted for flavor before it’s packaged.
Learning about these ingredients shows how they travel from farms and fields to our kitchens, bringing history and science right into our cookie jars!
The Great Cookie Experiment
Ever wonder why your cookies flourish or flop? It’s all about the magic of ingredients! The science of cookies reveals that flour is like the building block of your cookie, giving it structure and form. Sugar adds sweetness and affects the texture, making your cookies crispy or chewy. Baking soda and baking powder are the secret weapons for making cookies rise and become fluffy, thanks to the bubbles they create during baking. Eggs are the glue that holds everything together, providing moisture and binding the ingredients so your cookies don’t crumble apart. Understanding these roles can help you tweak recipes and become a cookie-baking master!
Using guidance from Redpath Sugar’s “The Science of Cookies“, test what happens when you alter the ingredients. Make three to four different variations of cookies and compare the results. Consider some of the following:
- Sugar Substitute: Make one batch with brown sugar and one batch with white sugar.
- No Rest for the Weary: Divide your dough in half. Go ahead and bake one half right away, but wrap and refrigerate the other half to bake later.
- Soda or Powder?: Use baking soda in one batch and baking powder in another batch.
- The Butter Dilemma: Will you cream it, melt it, or brown it? Try all three!
Extensions:
- Research and make cookies from different countries, cultures, and historical periods.
- Younger children can sort the different cookies made and create a bar graph to compare the quantities. They can also create a survey to see which cookie was the family favorite.
- Write a cookie-themed song and use kitchen/baking utensils as percussion instruments.
- Role-play as a cookie shop owner. Design and create packaging for your cookie company, design a logo, and develop a marketing strategy.
- Read picture books about cookies, such as “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” and “The Smart Cookie“.
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