Only two months to go before December. This is the perfect time to bring out your pans and test your baking skills or that new recipe. Who knows? Your creations might make good Christmas presents for your loved ones this coming yuletide season. It seems a lot of people are trying their hands on cookies, as we received a lot of questions about them. 

Q: Hi Jun Jun and Adoree. This column is truly a God-send to us who love to bake and want to improve our craft. My question is about my oatmeal raisin cookies. It's quite pale in color. The recipe calls for three-fourths cup white sugar and one-third cup brown sugar. Can I substitute part of the white sugar with brown sugar to make the cookies browner? Thanks. (Mandy Castañeda of Quezon City)

Adoree: Thanks for your question, Mandy. Try using darker brown sugar. If you can, check out your supermarket. You’ll probably notice that brown sugar comes in different hues of brown. Choose the darkest brown sugar and use it for your cookies. I do not suggest altering the recipe because your cookies might end up too moist and wet.

Jun Jun:  Mandy Castañeda, are you related to the actor/director who is so good at his craft? There are different varieties of brown sugar, some darker than the others. Use the brown sugar nearest the color you want your cookies to be. 

Q: I would like to ask why sometimes my chocolate chip cookies spread wider and at other times they come out thicker. I did not alter the recipe and I always follow it to the dot. Why do the results differ?  Sometimes, in the same batch, the others are thick and the others are spread out and thin. Help! (Delia Sablan of  Pateros)

Adoree: Hi, Delia. I suggest you chill the cookie dough for a couple of hours before shaping and baking it. You may need to chill the dough again after using half of the dough because the dough usually softens after sometime.  The idea is to bake the dough cold so that it does not spread out too much.  Also, double check the oven temperature. If it is too low, it will make your cookies spread out.

Jun Jun: Your cookie dough might need a bit more mixing. The spreading out is due to the chemical leavener you used, so it might have lacked in that procedure. Also, the cookie dough must be a bit cool when you start shaping, so that the fat in your mixture does not melt but binds with the flour as it bakes.

Q: Butter is becoming more expensive each month. Can I substitute margarine for butter when I make cookies? Will the outcome and taste be the same? (Weng Valmadrid of Makati)

Adoree: If you can get butter compound, use this instead. I think it is a better alternative, for I find the taste closer to butter. The downside of it would be, since it is also part margarine, your cookies will be oily. You will notice an oily film on your fingers after eating the cookies. I know price is really a big factor.  I suggest that you research your market. If your market is the paying market, I don’t think they will fuss too much about the price, if they know you are using the best ingredients, butter included.

Jun Jun: Butter can never be substituted. But it is really fine with us if you want to use margarine, shortening, or compounds instead, since it really is more practical. It’s usually the flavor that suffers; you don’t get that rich taste. 

Q: Hi to both of you, Jun Jun and Adoree. Why did my oatmeal lace cookies come out not lacey at all?  And how can I make them more paper-thin? Thank you in advance.  (Tina Quitino of Parañaque)

Adoree: Hi, Tina. It is good to hear that someone makes oatmeal lace cookies at home. I think it is one of the ‘harder’ cookies to make for they are very fragile. The secret why lace cookies come out the way they are—lacey—is the amount of sugar and invert sugar in the recipe. I cannot really comment on your recipe because I did not see it. I suggest you find another recipe to check your original recipe. The rule of thumb is, there should be little flour and there should be enough sugar to make the cookies spread out and create holes in the process to make the lace effect. Your oven temperature should only be around 325 F for the cookies to spread out thin. 

Jun Jun:  Hi Tina, yes, Adoree’s answer is right… Take all that into consideration. 

Q: I love chewy cookies! I think cookies should be that way. I tried making macadamia chocolate cookies and I found the bottom too brown so the cookies were not as chewy as they should be. How can I prevent the bottom from browning too much? (Jen de Castro of Taguig)

Adoree: Hi, Jen. I love chewy cookies as well! Regarding your cookies’ browning, try using two cookie sheets. Put another sheet at the bottom of the first one and bake them together. If you can, also position the cookie sheets in the middle rack so the heat will be more even. Lastly, check your oven temperature. Place an oven thermometer in the area where you will bake the cookies. This ensures that you do not bake the cookies in a very hot oven.

Jun Jun: Oven temperature is really crucial to why the bottom of cookies come out hard and toasted. The best way is still to guard, at all times, the area where your cookies are baking.

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