Baking is like doing science experiments, only that you get to eat your final products. There are different ways to tweak a cookie recipe to achieve different flavors and textures. After reading food blogs and articles like this, this, and this, and after playing experimenting with different types of sugars, flours, butter, and oven temperatures, I was finally able to produce the perfect chocolate chip cookies the way I wanted. My chocolate chip cookies are soft and chewy, and most importantly, not overly sweet. The recipe was adapted (actually a complete makeover) from the Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe from my newly purchased book The Art & Soul of Baking by Cindy Mushet. I use melted brown butter (instead of softened unsalted butter) and bread flour (instead of all purpose flour). Sugar amount is also reduced. Here is how the EC Style cookies are engineered (feel free to skip all these boring stuffs and jump right to the recipe… I won’t blame you…):
- Butter: melted butter traps less air than solid butter so will give cookies a more compact texture. Here, brown butter (beurre noisette) is used to give the cookies a nutty aroma.
- Flour: in order to make the cookies chewier, bread flour which contains more proteins and gluten is used.
- Sugar: sugar doesn’t just add sweetness in baking. Sugar is hygroscopic, which means it attracts moisture from its surrounding. Brown sugar is more hygroscopic than white sugar and therefore makes cookies softer. But since I’ve reduced a lot of sugar in my recipe, I need a type of sugar that is even more hygroscopic than brown sugar, namely dark brown sugar. Moreover, brown butter contains less water than regular unsalted butter. To compensate for this moisture loss, some liquid sugar in syrup form (agave nectar in this case) is added. Read about the other roles of sugar in baking in this good article from Serious Eats here.
- Chocolate chips: dark chocolate chips (60% cocoa) instead of milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips are used to make these cookies less sweet.
玩烘焙與做科學實驗差不多，不同的是你可以把實驗品吃進肚子。想將同一個曲奇食譜換成不同質地或風味，可以用不同方法修改。EC在讀完了這篇、這篇、和這篇網誌/文章，加上利用不同牛油、糖、麵粉和爐温玩了幾次做了幾次實驗之後，終於做到了適合自己口味的朱古力粒曲奇。EC要求的朱古力粒曲奇是要軟身及有咬口的，最重要的是不能太甜! 曲奇食譜以EC新買的書The Art & Soul of Baking (作者：Cindy Mushet)中朱古力粒曲奇食譜為藍本，用焦牛油溶液代替原食譜中的室温淡牛油、以高筋麵粉取替中筋麵粉，並且將糖量大減。以下是 EC Style 曲奇的主要成份和結構解剖，沒興趣看的可直接跳到食譜部份，EC不會怪你的…
- 牛油：液態牛油比固態牛油在打發時會混入更少空氣，使曲奇不會變得過於鬆化。EC用了焦牛油(beurre noisette)增添風味，曲奇會有淡淡的堅果香。
- 麵粉：為了使曲奇有咬口不會一咬即在口中散開，EC選用蛋白質及筋度較高的高筋麵粉。
- 糖：在烘焙中，糖除了甜味還有更多很重要的作用! 糖是 hygroscopic 的，意思是會吸收周圍的水份。不同種類的糖有不同的吸濕程度，黃糖的吸濕度比白砂糖高，因此軟身的曲奇多數含黃糖。由於EC將食譜的糖量大減，為了維持曲奇軟軟的質地，EC改用吸濕度比黃糖更高的黑糖。鑑於焦牛油比一般牛油少了水份，食譜加入了少量液態糖去彌補水份流失。
有關糖在烘焙中的其他角色可以閱讀這篇Serious Eats的文章。 - 朱古力粒：因為不想太甜，EC使用的是60%可可成份的黑朱古力粒而非較甜的半甜或牛奶朱古力粒。
If you are a food science geek like me, watch this video by TED Ed to learn about the chemistry behind cookies.
若好像EC般喜歡食物科學的，你或許會對以下TED Ed的“曲奇背後的化學”短片有興趣…
Ok…enough cookie anatomy and chemistry lessons. Let’s go to the recipe now!
好了，上完曲奇解剖和化學堂了，讓我們一起看看食譜吧！
EC’s Soft and Chewy Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
EC的黑朱古力粒曲奇
makes 20 cookies about 2.5-3 inches in size
可做二十塊直徑2.5-3寸曲奇
Ingredients
85 g brown butter
20 g agave nectar
70 g dark brown sugar
160 g bread flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg (about 50-55 g)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (about 100 g)
材料
焦牛油 85 克
龍舌蘭糖漿 20 克
黑糖 70 克
高筋麵粉 160 克
梳打粉 1/2 茶匙
鹽 1/2 茶匙
大蛋 1隻 (約 50-55 克)
香草醬 1 茶匙
黑朱古力粒 1/2 杯 (約100 克)
Directions 做法
To make brown brown：measure and cut 120 g of unsalted butter into chunks then place pieces in a pan. With medium-low heat, cook butter until it melts and bubbles. When the foam subsides and the sizzling sound starts to disappear, watch closely for the color change. When you start to smell the nutty aroma and see the butter turning brown with specks of brown bits on the bottom of the pan, remove pan from heat and immediately pour the brown butter into a bowl to let cool. Butter will burn and turn black easily so pay close attention to the color change when you start to smell the nutty aroma (it smells like Almond Roca to me). This will make 90-95 g of brown butter and we will need only 85 g.
焦牛油：120克淡牛油切大塊，放在小鍋以中小火煮至牛油融化、冒泡、發出啪啪聲音、聲音開始消失、顔色轉金黃並發出陣陣果仁香、顔色變深及有少量一點點啡色沈澱物後立刻離火， 將啡色的焦牛油倒在碗中放至室溫備用。牛油由啡色變燶只是一瞬間的事，煎煮過程要留心，當聞到香味(EC覺得是樂家杏仁糖的香味！)時便要金睛火眼留意牛油之顔色變化！(這裹大概會有90-95克焦牛油，食譜只需85克)
Sift and combine bread flour, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.
高筋麵粉、梳打粉及鹽混合過篩備用。
Place 85 g of melted brown butter, dark brown sugar and agave nectar in another mixing bowl and beat with electric or stand mixer until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla bean paste until completely incorporated. The mixture will look shiny and thick. Stir in flour mixture in two batches (I use the lowest speed on my stand mixer. It can be done by hand with a large spatula as well). When the flour mixture is almost incorporated, stir in chocolate chips until you get a sticky dough. Do not overmix.
85g焦牛油溶液、黑糖、龍舌蘭糖漿放入鋼盆用電動或座枱攪拌器拌勻。加入蛋和香草醬打至完全乳化，混合物呈濃稠狀且帶有光澤。粉類分兩次拌入混合物中(EC用座枱攪拌器以最底速拌匀，取膠刮用手輕手拌勻亦可)。在粉類差不多拌勻時可加入朱古力粒繼續輕手拌至完全混合成濕潤且黏手的粉糰，切勿過度攪拌。
Place a piece of plastic wrap directly over the dough and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (or until dough is not sticky)
粉糰上直接蓋上保鮮紙，連同鋼盤一同放入雪櫃雪三十分鐘(或至粉糰不黏手)。
About 15 minutes before rolling, preheat your oven to 350ºF/180ºC if you want flatter and bigger cookies, or 375ºF/190ºC if you prefer thicker but smaller cookies. See my notes regarding oven temperatures below.
預備做曲奇前十五分鐘把焗爐預熱，烤盆內放牛油紙或矽膠墊。
温度方面，想要薄身曲奇的可用350ºF/180ºC，要厚身的可用375ºF/190ºC。(請參閱下面有關爐温的註釋)。
Remove chilled dough from the refrigerator. Let dough sit at room temperature for 10 minutes if it is too firm for rolling. Scoop out dough with a spoon or an ice-cream scoop and roll dough into a ball (dough measures about 23 g each). Place balls onto cookie sheet and flatten each to about 1/2 inch thick.
從雪櫃取出粉糰(若粉糰太硬不能搓圓可先回温十分鐘)，用湯匙或雪糕杓取少量粉糰(約23g一個)在掌心搓成小圓球，放在烤盆上再用手按扁至約半吋厚。
Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, until edges are golden brown and the middle is still soft. The cookies will look under baked but the residual heat will continue to bake the dough. You will need to experiment with your own oven in order to determine the perfect baking time. Test with your eyes and fingers (don’t burn yourself).
放入焗爐焗6-8分鐘至曲奇邊緣轉金黃，但中央仍是軟軟的狀態後取出放在鐵架上。曲奇中央會好像是未熟透的樣子，但餘熱會繼續令曲奇變熟。因焗爐大小及火力不同所以入爐時間只供参考，請自行用目測及手指按曲奇中央(小心熱)來判斷最佳入爐時間。
Cool cookies on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
待曲奇稍涼後(約兩分鐘)可將曲奇由烤盆轉移到鐵架完全放涼。
Cookies baked at 350ºF/180ºC. Cashew pieces were added to the dough.
350ºF/180ºC焗的曲奇，EC加了少量腰果粒。
Cookies baked at 375ºF/190ºC. More chocolate chips were added to the top after baking.
375ºF/190ºC焗的曲奇，EC在曲奇面加上更多朱古力粒。
My Two Cents EC的小心得
The following pictures show how different oven temperatures affect the cookies in terms of color, size, and thickness. Choose what you prefer then adjust your oven temperature accordingly.
Left: at 350ºF/180ºC, cookie is flatter and wider (3 inches in diameter). Color is a bit lighter but not too noticeable from the picture.
Middle: at 375ºF/190ºC, cookie is thicker and smaller (2.5 inches in diameter).
Right: at 375ºF/190ºC, dough is scooped out with an ice-cream scoop then placed directly onto the baking sheet without rolling and flattening.以下是不同爐温對曲奇顔色、大小及厚薄之比較圖，大家可依喜好自行調整爐温。
左：350ºF/180ºC，曲奇較薄身，直徑約3寸，顏色較淺(但不易察覺)。
中：375ºF/190ºC，曲奇較厚身，直徑約2.5寸。
右：375ºF/190ºC，粉糰直接由雪糕杓挖出放在烤盤上，沒有搓成小圓球及按扁。
For a neater look, extra chocolate chips can be pressed directly onto each cookie right after baking. The heat from the cookies will melt the chocolate chips so they won’t fall off after cooling.
想平均分佈曲奇上面的朱古力粒可以在曲奇焗起後才趁熱用手將份量以外的朱古力粒逐粒按入，曲奇的熱力會將朱古力粒融化，朱古力粒放涼後是不會掉出來的。
Cookies taken right out from the oven are very fragile. Use a flat plastic spatula/turner, bench scraper or wide cake decorating spatula to quickly lift them up when transferring to the cooling rack in order to prevent cookies from breaking. I usually use a plastic spatula.
剛焗起的曲奇十分軟身容易斷裂，不想曲奇變形可用扁平的膠鑊鏟、切割麵糰的刮刀或濶身的蛋糕抹刀快速將曲奇整塊剷起才移到鐵架放涼，EC通常用鑊鏟。
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