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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Another chocolate chip cookie problem (sorry for hijacking, OP, I hope you don’t mind!)

I used to make good chocolate chip cookies. For the past year or two ever since batch spreads and they are totally flat and sad. I usually make the dough, bake half, refrigerate the other half, and bake the second half a few days later. First and second bakes are the same, so it isn’t refrigeration.

I use the recipe on the back of the Ghirardelli bag.

Any ideas what I can do? I’ve tried adding a bit more flour but that doesn’t seem to change things.[/quote]

You have to use a scale to measure ingredients. A stick of butter does not weigh 4 oz and flour density changes as it settles or is moved. Using volume a cup of flour can vary in weigh by +/- 25-30%. This results in inconsistent baking results. The best way to get consistent results in baking is by using a scale and cooking to an internal temperature(use a thermometer).

This is more on it.

[quote] As you know, baking is about precision and accuracy and that's why I've always been an advocate of weight measurements. As you've probably noticed, all the recipes on joyofbaking.com give both volume and weight measurements. For example if a recipe calls for all purpose  flour, it is written "1 cup (130 grams)  all purpose flour". The reason I write recipes in this way is that depending on where you live you may use volume (cup) measurements or you may weigh (grams) your ingredients.

I believe the reason home bakers in the United States haven't adopted weight measurements is because digital scales were once hard to find and if you could find one, they were expensive. This is not the case any longer. Today you can find digital scales on line or in most stores that sell kitchen equipment. And what is amazing is that some brands of digital scales sell for less than twenty dollars. That's about the same price as a good set of stainless steel measuring cups.

Professionals seldom measure their ingredients by volume (cups). They usually prefer measuring by weight, and there are many reasons for this. Baking is not like cooking where you can add a little extra of this ingredient or leave out that ingredient. Baking is all about precision and accuracy so that you can achieve consistent results. And there are so many variables when baking - your ingredients, how you measure your ingredients, the mixing technique, your pans, temperature and humidity, and your oven. Some of these variables are hard to control, but you can control accuracy by weighing ingredients. Unfortunately this is not always true when measuring by volume (cups), especially with dry ingredients. One excellent example is flour. If you "dip" the measuring cup into the flour bag you will get a different amount of flour than if you "spoon" the flour into your measuring cup. This is because flour tends to compact with transportation and storage and there is also the problem of humidity affecting its' density (volume). However, neither of these things will affect the weight of flour. Because a 130 grams of flour is always 130 grams of flour.

Weighing ingredients is about accuracy, but it's also makes things quicker and easier. A scale is so simple to use. All you need to do is  'zero' your scale, place the ingredient on the scale, and you're done. You can even weigh one ingredient after another, in the same bowl, by just "zeroing" your scale. No need to worry anymore about whether you should "dip" or "spoon" your flour into your measuring cup.[/quote]

Read more: https://www.joyofbaking.com/WeightvsVolumeMeasurement.html#ixzz8nnPi2bCK
Follow us: @joyofbaking on Twitter | joyofbaking on Facebook[/quote]

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