Weird cookies' results

[may12th]

Hello!

About half a week ago, I tried baking cookies for the first time and the result was amazing! However, that time, I didn't have plenty of flour left. The only ingredients I added were: flour, egg, baking powder, granulated sugar, butter, and salt. When they all were mixed, it was too moisty and sticky because apparently, there was no more flour. I was unable to make them into balls, so I just used a spoon and put them on the pan. Again as mentioned, the baked outcome was great. Pretty yellowish golden.

And today... it was a nightmare! My parents wanted me to bake them again, yet without too much sugar added. And we had plenty of flour left, so I thought this should be much better. Nope. It turned out too horrid! As I made them into balls and put them in the oven, the size won't increase. Only a tiny tiny bit. There were some cracks on the top too. Not that good. The color was too pale—white.

So, what happened? Does the moisty cookie dough actually give a better result?

 

[LPBeier]

You talk about how they looked, but how did each batch taste?

Are you going by a recipe or just adding what ingredients you have? It sounds like the proportion of the flour was too low in the first and too high in the second.

 

[may12th]

Thank you for your reply.

The second batch tasted too stiff. I apologize for not adding any details about this part. And, I followed the recipe. Like I mentioned, the first batch was unable to be added with more flour because it ran out. The result was great. As for the second batch, it was the opposite when I actually had enough flour.

What I wanted to know is: does a moisty cookie dough with fewer amount of flour result in "original" look and taste? Or am I missing something?

Thanks, again.

 

[missM]

May LP has offered some good advice.
But do not be concerned. Recipe failure when cooking for guests is part of the Cooking module in Murphy's Law - a law which governs almost every facit of our lives)

 

[Alix]

If you could post exactly the recipe you made each time we can help you troubleshoot. Its a bit tough otherwise.

My own guess would be that the first time you made a "cake" type cookie that doesn't need a lot of flour and has a loose dough. The second time when you added all the flour the dough was stiffer, and less pleasant apparently. Thats only a guess though.