Re: [CnD] 5 Ways to Fix Dry and Crumbly Cookie Dough (Plus the Common Causes)
Thanks so much. -Original Message- From: Cookinginthedark [mailto:cookinginthedark-boun...@acbradio.org] On Behalf Of Helen Whitehead via Cookinginthedark Sent: Wednesday, December 4, 2019 10:27 AM To: cookinginthedark@acbradio.org Cc: Helen Whitehead Subject: [CnD] 5 Ways to Fix Dry and Crumbly Cookie Dough (Plus the Common Causes) Hi everyone, This happened to me this morning. I made 4 dozen shortbread cookies, but, my dough was crumbly. I didn't know what to do! I almost called my friend Barb, to see if she had a fix for this problem. But, then, I started grabbing handfuls of dough, and squeezing it, so I could form the cookies in to balls, and it worked! I'm so pleased! I'm taking them to my Braille group this afternoon. So here are other fixes for crumbly cookie dough. 5 Ways to Fix Dry and Crumbly Cookie Dough (Plus the Common Causes) Were you excited to eat some fresh baked cookies? Was everything going well until you looked at your dough and saw that it was dry? It is crumbly and tough rather than soft and pliable? Dry cookie dough is never good! So what should you do? You dont want your cookie efforts to go to waste! And baking dry cookie dough will likely lead to tough dry cookies. Luckily, there are a few things you can do to fix dry cookie dough. Your cookies will be saved soon enough! 5 Ways to Fix Dry and Crumbly Cookie Dough (Plus the Common Causes) Why Is the Dough Dry? There are a few reasons why your cookie dough may be dry and crumbly rather than holding together in a nice ball. Figuring out why the dough is dry may help you determine how to fix it before you try to bake it. 1 Not Enough Fat The most common reason for dry cookie dough is that there is not enough fat in the dough. Either the recipe itself didnt call for enough fat or it was just measured incorrectly. Fat acts as a lubricant in cookie dough, greasing it up so that it is smooth and pliable. Without enough fat, the dry ingredients will not be sufficiently lubricated and may not bind together well. 2 Not Enough Liquid Some cookie dough recipes call for milk or water. If these were measured incorrectly or omitted, the cookie dough will be too dry. Double check the measurements of any liquid ingredients (including eggs and vanilla!) to see if one of them is lacking. 3 Too Much of the Dry Ingredients Over measuring the dry ingredients will be a cause for the cookie dough to become dry. Even something small like an extra ¼ cup of flour can be the culprit of dry cookie dough. Or maybe you added two tablespoons of baking powder instead of two teaspoons- way too much! Excessive dry ingredients makes for excessively dry dough. 4 Over Mixed After you add all the ingredients into the bowl and start blending the cookie dough, the flour will instantly begin to develop gluten. If you allow the dough to mix, and mix and mix it will get tougher and harder as the gluten in the flour develops more and more. This can make for hard, dry dough. 5 Dried in Fridge If you make your cookie dough ahead of time or you buy premade dough, it may dry out in the fridge. The refrigerator is a very drying place as it is constantly circulating air in order to remain cold. The air will quickly dry any moisture in your cookie dough, changing the texture of the dough completely. How to Moisten Dry Cookie Dough Now that you know why your cookie dough may have become dry, it is time to fix the problem! Lets say goodbye to dry cookie dough and hello to soft, tender cookies. 1 Add Liquid If your cookie dough recipe already calls for a liquid such as milk, water, eggs or egg whites, start trying to moisten your dough by adding 1 teaspoon of the liquid at a time, mixing the dough briefly afterward. Most basic liquids will not have much effect on the dough or the taste of the cookies and will help your dough come back together into a workable consistency. If you need to add more than ¼ cup of liquid in order to soften the dough, you may have made a mistake in the recipe elsewhere as this much extra liquid may be means for concern. Add a little at a time, mix slowly and assess your dough results. This method also works well if your dough simply dried out in the fridge. Refrigerators suck water out of the dough so adding water or milk back in will help fix the problem that the fridge caused. 2 Add Some Fat Adding fat to your cookie dough will definitely soften the dough. However, you do not want to add too much as it will change the end texture of your cookies. Too much fat will cause your cookies to spread when baking and the grease to separate from the cookie dough, causing for some oily cookies! Whatever fat is used in your recipe, butter, vegetable oil or Crisco, add 1 teaspoon of the fat to the dough and gently knead the fat in with your hands. Using your hands to mix in the extra ingredient will prevent you from over mixing the dough, causing it to be tough, while also blending in the fat well. 3
[CnD] 5 Ways to Fix Dry and Crumbly Cookie Dough (Plus the Common Causes)
Hi everyone, This happened to me this morning. I made 4 dozen shortbread cookies, but, my dough was crumbly. I didn't know what to do! I almost called my friend Barb, to see if she had a fix for this problem. But, then, I started grabbing handfuls of dough, and squeezing it, so I could form the cookies in to balls, and it worked! I'm so pleased! I'm taking them to my Braille group this afternoon. So here are other fixes for crumbly cookie dough. 5 Ways to Fix Dry and Crumbly Cookie Dough (Plus the Common Causes) Were you excited to eat some fresh baked cookies? Was everything going well until you looked at your dough and saw that it was dry? It is crumbly and tough rather than soft and pliable? Dry cookie dough is never good! So what should you do? You dont want your cookie efforts to go to waste! And baking dry cookie dough will likely lead to tough dry cookies. Luckily, there are a few things you can do to fix dry cookie dough. Your cookies will be saved soon enough! 5 Ways to Fix Dry and Crumbly Cookie Dough (Plus the Common Causes) Why Is the Dough Dry? There are a few reasons why your cookie dough may be dry and crumbly rather than holding together in a nice ball. Figuring out why the dough is dry may help you determine how to fix it before you try to bake it. 1 Not Enough Fat The most common reason for dry cookie dough is that there is not enough fat in the dough. Either the recipe itself didnt call for enough fat or it was just measured incorrectly. Fat acts as a lubricant in cookie dough, greasing it up so that it is smooth and pliable. Without enough fat, the dry ingredients will not be sufficiently lubricated and may not bind together well. 2 Not Enough Liquid Some cookie dough recipes call for milk or water. If these were measured incorrectly or omitted, the cookie dough will be too dry. Double check the measurements of any liquid ingredients (including eggs and vanilla!) to see if one of them is lacking. 3 Too Much of the Dry Ingredients Over measuring the dry ingredients will be a cause for the cookie dough to become dry. Even something small like an extra ¼ cup of flour can be the culprit of dry cookie dough. Or maybe you added two tablespoons of baking powder instead of two teaspoons- way too much! Excessive dry ingredients makes for excessively dry dough. 4 Over Mixed After you add all the ingredients into the bowl and start blending the cookie dough, the flour will instantly begin to develop gluten. If you allow the dough to mix, and mix and mix it will get tougher and harder as the gluten in the flour develops more and more. This can make for hard, dry dough. 5 Dried in Fridge If you make your cookie dough ahead of time or you buy premade dough, it may dry out in the fridge. The refrigerator is a very drying place as it is constantly circulating air in order to remain cold. The air will quickly dry any moisture in your cookie dough, changing the texture of the dough completely. How to Moisten Dry Cookie Dough Now that you know why your cookie dough may have become dry, it is time to fix the problem! Lets say goodbye to dry cookie dough and hello to soft, tender cookies. 1 Add Liquid If your cookie dough recipe already calls for a liquid such as milk, water, eggs or egg whites, start trying to moisten your dough by adding 1 teaspoon of the liquid at a time, mixing the dough briefly afterward. Most basic liquids will not have much effect on the dough or the taste of the cookies and will help your dough come back together into a workable consistency. If you need to add more than ¼ cup of liquid in order to soften the dough, you may have made a mistake in the recipe elsewhere as this much extra liquid may be means for concern. Add a little at a time, mix slowly and assess your dough results. This method also works well if your dough simply dried out in the fridge. Refrigerators suck water out of the dough so adding water or milk back in will help fix the problem that the fridge caused. 2 Add Some Fat Adding fat to your cookie dough will definitely soften the dough. However, you do not want to add too much as it will change the end texture of your cookies. Too much fat will cause your cookies to spread when baking and the grease to separate from the cookie dough, causing for some oily cookies! Whatever fat is used in your recipe, butter, vegetable oil or Crisco, add 1 teaspoon of the fat to the dough and gently knead the fat in with your hands. Using your hands to mix in the extra ingredient will prevent you from over mixing the dough, causing it to be tough, while also blending in the fat well. 3 Use Your Hands If your dough looks just a little crumbly after being mixed, try using your hands to blend the dough rather than a spoon or paddle attachment on a stand mixer. Your hands can really help bring a dough together in a gentle way, without causing over mixing. You can also use your hands to scoop and form the cookie dough balls,
