The Puffy

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I was so excited when I saw the episode with the puffy chocolate chip cookie. I followed the recipe exactly and they ended up being flat as a pancake. What did I do wrong?

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I enjoy learning about the chemistry of baking, so I found this episode quite enlightening. I took LOTS of notes. It was only after comparing the recipes for "The Thin," "The Puffy," and "The Chewy" I realized the proportion of total sugar in "The Puffy" recipe (1 3/4 cups is higher than the proportion of total sugar (1 1/2 cups in the recipes for "The Thin" and "The Chewy."

Alton never explained WHY "The Puffy" recipe contains more sugar, and try as I might, I've been unable to come up with a logical explanation on my own.

Sugar is considered a *liquid* ingredient in baking, NOT a dry ingredient. Alton DID make the point of explaining, in regards to the recipe for "The Chewy," that using bread flour would allow the dough to absorb more liquid; and using melted butter would add the additional moisture needed to result in a moist (and chewy end product. So, had the additional 1/4 cup sugar been used in "The Chewy" recipe, it would have been understandable - it would add more moisture and "chew."

The only other explanation I can think of is that Alton measures brown sugar differently than I was taught - I pack my brown sugar much more firmly in the measuring cup than he seems to. Since "The Puffy" uses a higher proportion of brown sugar to granulated white, I wonder if the additional 1/4 cup of total sugar is meant to compensate for his measuring method - a much lighter packing of the brown sugar.

I *do* wish recipes were written with measurements BY WEIGHT - it's much more accurate!!

Any thoughts on the additional sugar in "The Puffy" v.s. "The Thin" and "The Chewy"?

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I had to make substitution for the Butter flavored shortening by using 7/8 cup shortening and 1/8 cup of butter (2 tablespoons. You do have to keep an eye on them. As Alton says,when the edges turn brown take them out. They will be soft until they cool. I used a convection oven on bake which helped distribute heat evenly. If your convection oven has a "Roast" setting DON'T use that setting or the heat will over heat the bottoms and deeply brown or burn them... I took them out before this completely happened and went back to bake.

As far as some people's rants about trans-fat being in the shortening, most commercial cookies and cakes use still use trans-fat. I haven't heard too much uproar over SU ZEE Cue's or Tween key's or even Lit 'el Debra cakes. As long as you don't eat the whole batch and watch other caloric intake what is the hurt.

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Alton Brown never disappoints. I made this recipe--just changed one thing. I didn't have butter flavored shortening so I used 1/2 c. butter and 1/2 c. regular shortening. They still turned out excellent! Still had nice level of puffiness, good color, nice texture. My son liked them so much he said that whenever I make chocolate chip cookies I am supposed to use this recipe!!!

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These are excellent! The best chocolate chip I've ever made!
Thanks!

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I tried this but had to make several substitutions. First of all, I don't use shortening, so I used butter. I didn't have cake flour on hand so I substituted 2cups AP flour and 1/4 cup corn starch, and I only had one egg at the time so I had to use 1/4 cup applesauce as a binder plus an extra 1/2 tsp baking powder. The flavor was great, but they weren't puffy, just flat and chewy. Still good, but I wanted a puffy cookie. :-P

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After 5 years in Colorado and being an avid baker have been trying to recreate the perfect chocolate chip cookie. I always attributed the failures to the high altitude and had all but given up on the idea of ever having the perfect cookie again. When I saw this recipe on "Good Eats" I was willing to try anything and decided this would be another recipe that would never work. WOW!!! is all that I can say. The Puffy Cookie recipe is my perfect chocolate chips recipe and I will now be trying the method in a variety of cookies that I make year round. I cannot believe how easy they were and how incredible the texture of the cookie is. I am sure my family will enjoy them also, that will be the big test. I would recommend trying them and do not alter the recipe. The only thing I altered was the cooking time, mine took about 18 minutes. I can't wait to experiment with this method in other cookies. Thank you Alton you are a genius. I guess that is why it's called "Good Eats"

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This is dedicated to the reviewer who noted on Dec 17, '07:

"I have not made these cookies but come on, Anonymous. Shortening is not made from lard. And besides, if you look hard enough, you can find very good lard. Shortening is made from vegetable fat, just like high-quality expensive EVOO. And he was just using the shortening to make them puffy. Otherwise it is butter."

JUST FYI and not in an offensive manner: SHORTENING is hydrogenated vegetable oil...hydrogenated means, it's a trans-fatty acid, it is similar to consuming plastic in cream or oil form, it is NOT like EVOO. Shortening is used in most of the commercial cakes and frostings and you will notice how they can sit on the counter without being refrigerated for days without losing their texture. They don't melt like butter, they don't get soft or runny like cream cheese, but that's not a good thing! That's courtesy the sustaining power of the might shortening.
Yes, it helps food have longer shelf life, be it cookies, cakes or crackers. Yes, it helps cakes rise almost 30% more, but is it worth the health hazard? NO. I am surprised at Alton's use of shortening in several of his recipes, but that just means he promises Good Results, not necessarily "Good For You" eats.

Thank You!

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I followed the recipe exactly (at least I thought I did, but these cookies turned out poorly. Kinda heavy and hard and anemic looking. I thought I had finally found a chocolate chip cookie recipe that would WOW my husband. I'll keep searching...

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YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 GIVE ME MORE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!