I made two different batches of NFSC yesterday and both of the batches would not roll out! I have made them before and never a problem. Finally after struggling with the dough I threw it all out. That was a lot of butter going into the garbage! What possible reason would make the dough not roll out but just crumble?? These are for the wedding I’m doing in Nov. recipe calls for two cups butter and sugar two eggs six cups flour 1/2 yes baking powder one teas salt and one TBSp vanilla. Anyone have a clue as I don’t want to do another batch and have the same thing happen again. Thanks in advance.
omg -- i can't believe you threw all that out -- i'm so sorry -- if there is ever a next time -- take part of the cookie dough out and add an egg or an egg yolk to it then mix that all back into the other -- it might not be as perfect as usual but you can make cookies out of it for sure --
ok -- when you measured the flour -- did you do it by weight or by cupfuls -- did you dig the cup measure down into the flour? that will pack the flour into the cup and that might be the reason -- did you use small or medium eggs -- that could be the reason -- your cookie dough was room temperature yes when you tired to roll it out --
two cups of butter in one pound -- did you use one pound for each batch? four sticks yes?
did you get unbleached flour?
or anything other than all purpose?
You know, I read that egg sizes aren't weighed individually, only by the dozen. So, in one container of eggs, you can definitely see quite a wide range, even if the container is labeled large. I find this very frustrating as very few recipes give you a weight for eggs, so really, you don't know how the recipe was tested. I've eyeballed adding an extra egg before, when they just look so damn small.
I’ve had that happen before. Possibly your butter was too cold?
I have added small splashes of water to make the dough come together and it has worked out fine. I use that recipe all the time and love it!
Good tips . Yes I used unbleached flour this was the first time using it??? Can that be the problem?? Yes I used 4 sticks of room temp butter. This was the first time that I dipped my cup into the flour instead of scooping it into the cup. Could that be the problem?? I did add an extra egg to try and bring it together. I did salvage some cookies out of it but they looked all wrinkly. Thank God the icing covered up the uglyness. I can’t believe that Unbleached flour would cause this. If that’s the case I’ll no longer buy it. It was a very trying bake day. Icing did save the day thanks everyone for your support and suggestions &tips
some people only use unbleached but i have never had any luck with it for baked goods like cakes and cookies -- it's the flour of choice for pecan rolls though -- that contrast always gives me the perspective on unbleached -- and then alton brown has a chocolate chip cookie recipe with unbleached flour -- but i always find it drying and too thick -- like the way your cookie dough came out --
but whenever i measure flour, i whisk it around in the bag first to aerate it -- then gently scoop or spoon it -- i'll often tip the bag over to one side, insert the cup measure and then tip the bag the other way so the flours falls into the cup measure -- or sometimes i'll just short the full cup measure because i know i packed it in a bit -- you can always weigh your flour too --
and when you're scooping it six times if indeed you used a one cup measure -- you can accumulate quite a bit of additional flour and that will throw you off plus being unbleached -- those two combined did it i believe --
i too love that recipe and will often add an egg yolk for extra creaminess
Well you learn something new everyday. I’ve never bought unbleachrd flour before but thought everyone said how great it was. Well I will put it back into the bag and save it for cinnamon rolls and buy reg flour today. I did salvage some cookies but threw out most of it. Yes I always scoop to fill my flour except this time??? Not sure why I did that either?? A lesson learned the hard way. Thanks so much for your help it’s greatly appreciated.
you're welcome -- i like to try & solve a mystery -- i mean some people swear by unbleached -- but i could never get the hang of it unless i wanted a heavier product -- idk
It's funny, I have to specifically search out bleached flour. The default on the shelves around here is unbleached (except, thankfully, good old Aldi). But they really are very different. I think people read "bleached"and instinctively think, ew, clorox, but it's more complicated than that!
In fact, I'm at my sister's house today and she asked me to make her a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I use bleached flour at home; she has unbleached. I'm going to add a bit more butter and an extra egg yolk and see what happens!
ok i goofed that one up -- he uses bread flour not unbleached -- alton brown i mean -- i knew he used something off the beaten track
Okay, wow. My cookies are COMPLETELY different. With just the tiniest tweaks, I have a completely different cookie. And the kind of tweaks I made are the sort that could/would definitely happen in the course of slightly different weights/measures and bleached vs unbleached. The cookies are still yummy though so I'm going to note all the differences and save for later.
Just goes to show that every little thing makes a difference in baking!
I use unbleached flour exclusively , that's all I ever buy and I never or rarely have a baking problem. I think if she used her measuring cup to scoop out the flour...she probably added too much flour.
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