What is the science behind baking cookies?

Heat breaks the sucrose into the simple sugars glucose and fructose, giving each cookie a shiny, light brown crust. When you take the cookies out of the oven, the hot water gases in the cookie contract. The chemical changes that occurred during baking help the cookie keep its shape.

What happens at 92 degrees when baking cookies?

When you slide the pan into the oven, you’re setting off a series of chemical reactions that transform one substance, dough, into another, cookies. When the dough reaches 92 degrees Fahrenheit, the butter inside melts, causing the dough to start spreading out. When your dough reaches that temperature, they die off.

Is cookies chemical or physical change?

Baking the cookies is a chemical change, but some of the ingredients may go through a physical change before entering the oven.

Is baking cookies a chemical reaction?

Baking cookies involves a complex series of chemical changes — and a couple of physical changes, too. These changes turn your ball of dough into the delicious cookie that you love. The first physical reaction occurs at 92 degrees Fahrenheit. The melted butter spreads the cookie out into its flatter shape.

What happens if you don’t put eggs in cookies?

When eggs aren’t added, the cookies become dense, crumbly, and don’t spread out. While eggs may not add much in terms of flavor to a cookie, they’re still a vital ingredient. Without them, cookies will crumble apart and become too dry to enjoy. Texture is very important to a cookie.

Why do cookies smell so good?

At such high temperatures, sugar (aka sucrose) in the dough breaks down and is oxidized into glucose and fructose fragments. These compounds react further and polymerize to form new organic complexes that give off the irresistible smell associated with freshly baked cookies.

What does adding water do to cookies?

A little extra liquid in the cookie dough from water, egg, or milk makes the dough more elastic and adds steam as the cookies bake, making them puff more.

What happens when baking cookies?

The cookie starts to rise as the vapors push through the dough. Eventually, the baking soda or powder starts to break down into carbon dioxide gas, which raise up the cookie farther. The reaction involves not only the sugars in the dough but the proteins from the egg and flour as well.

What ingredient causes cookies to rise?

The rise: At about 212 degrees Fahrenheit, the water in the dough turns into steam. The cookie starts to rise as the vapors push through the dough. Eventually, the baking soda or powder starts to break down into carbon dioxide gas, which raise up the cookie farther.

Why do my cookies melt in the oven?

Cookies spread because the fat in the cookie dough melts in the oven. If there isn’t enough flour to hold that melted fat, the cookies will over-spread. Spoon and level that flour or, better yet, weigh your flour. If your cookies are still spreading, add an extra 2 Tablespoons of flour to the cookie dough.

Can I add an extra egg to cookies?

Yolks, where all of the fat is in an egg, increase richness, tenderness and flavor. Therefore, if you put an extra egg, you will get a chewier cookie. I do it all the time. If you put less, you will get a more crumbly cookie.

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TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here ยป Food scientist Shirley Corriher on how to bake a better chocolate chip cookie. More about food science.

Why do you need chemistry to make cookies?

All this baking chemistry provides the building blocks for refining the cookie’s architecture, says molecular biologist Liz Roth-Johnson, who runs the Science and Food blog at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Say I have a cookie recipe, and it’s not quite what I want,” she says.

What happens when you put cookies in the oven?

When you slide the pan into the oven, you’re setting off a series of chemical reactions that transform one substance, dough, into another, cookies. When the dough reaches 92 degrees Fahrenheit, the butter inside melts, causing the dough to start spreading out.