Quick Cookie Quandry

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Joined
May 6, 2005
Messages
88
Location
Dayton, OH
Ahh, if only my baked goods were as moist and delicious as my alliteration. Alas, it is not so.

Anyway, the last time I made cookies, I was waiting for them to appear nice and dark brown, rather than the pale they appeared to be for the majority of their time in the oven. By the time that they looked done, it turned out that their bottoms were a bit burnt. Not burnt bad, but you could taste it and the cookies were dry. So my question is this. How can I get the top and body of the cookie to cook as fast as the bottom of the cookie? I surmise the solution is in the placement of the cookie sheet in the oven. Intiuitively, I would say move them up so that the sheet is not so close to the heated wires underneath. The sheet presently rests on a rack towards the middle of the oven. Is the solution to simply move it up a bit? Or am I sacfycing too much of the convection heat by doing so? I'm just baking them, it's not an actual convection, but I'd imagine some does take place.

So what does everyone think?

If you're curious, BTW, I'm using Alton Brown's recipe:

Dry goods:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. each: baking soda and salt

Wet works:

3/4 cup each: brown sugar and white sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

2 large egg yolks, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

Extras:

2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Back for 15-17 minutes. Makes 30-36 cookies.

I've been quartering the recipe until I get it right. Then it's mega cookie time!


Thanks in advance for your suggestions!
 
I don't think that particular cookie will ever be dark brown without being burnt. It is meant to be a golden colour, sort of darker around the edges. Cookies are done when they no longer look "wet" in the middle.

Wow, this is hard to describe.
If you are determined to have a darker COLOUR cookie, try using dark brown sugar instead of golden sugar, that might help.
 
Oh I don't especially care about the color. I just assumed that the cookies weren't done by how light they were. I guess it never ocurred to me that they might indeed be done when I checked them before.

So the placement of the sheet doesn't particularly matter in this case? Middle will suffice?
 
Yep, that sounds perfect. They will look done when they are sort of golden, and a bit darker around the edges. They shouldn't be wet in the middle, and when you eat them, they will be sort of chewy with a slightly crispier edge. Mmmmmm...I'm hungry for cookies now!
 
Also, if you are using shiney baking sheets, that will tend to make the bottoms get a darker color. Use a darker sheet to get more uniform cooking. I usually take cookies out of the oven a couple of minutes before I need to as they will continue baking on the baking sheet.
 
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