| August 4th — National
Chocolate Chip Cookie Day |
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Originally baked in the 1930s by Ruth Wakefield and known as the Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie, their legacy grew thanks to Nestlé’s chocolate morsels and, later, the first commercial cookie mix produced by Pillsbury. Today, they’re the most popular cookie in the U.S. |
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The Science of Chocolate Chip Cookies |
Is there any baked treat more beloved—or nostalgic—than the chocolate chip cookie? Whether you prefer it chewy, crispy, or somewhere in between, there’s something irresistible about that buttery dough studded with melty chocolate.
Chocolate chip cookies may look simple, but their formulation is anything but. The right combination of flour, fats, sugars, and leavening agents affects not just taste, but structure, spread, and texture. Whether you’re baking for chewiness, crispiness, or crunch, every ingredient plays a specific role, and minor changes can lead to major shifts in quality. From dough mixing stages to commercial production techniques, the science behind these cookies is as rich as the flavor.
Did you know that water is an important inclusion in chocolate chip cookies? Suggested at 19% baker's percent, it helps provide moisture for flour gelatinization and aids in cookie spread.
Dig deeper into formulation, processing, and texture considerations in the BAKERpedia article on Chocolate Chip Cookies. |
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Explore the world of baking enzymes. These ingredients can have a significant impact on your product’s final quality, shelf life, and more. Learn what they are, how they work, and how you can apply them to improve your products.
This webinar offers a deeper understanding of wheat’s components and explains how enzymes like amylase, protease, lipase, and xylanase enhance bread formulation—from increasing volume to improving softness, freshness, and crumb structure. Plus, it covers key scientific insights for practical application. Speakers: Alex Pena, Bellarise Webinar length: 60 minutes Cost: $0 Members/$99 Non-Members |
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Learn the process of producing consistent, high-quality wire cut cookies. This course covers ingredient functions, dough mixing and temperature control, machine operation, baking profiles, cooling, and packaging. You’ll also learn safety and sanitation procedures, how to perform pre-operation checks, and tips for addressing production challenges.
Gain the skills to improve quality, and consistency in your cookie production. Certificate: Upon passing final test Course length: 2 hours
Cost: $250 for Members / $300 Non-Members
Get group pricing for your team of 3 or more members! Email [email protected] for details. |
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| Ask Our Dough Technologist |
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Q: What Temperatures are Optimal
for Laminating Dough? |
This question comes up a lot and can depend on many factors, some of which are out of your control (e.g. variations in butter melting points, ingredient storage temperatures, bakery temperatures). Here are some of the general guidelines we follow when executing trials involving commercial lamination techniques.
The core factors we monitor and regulate are Room Temperature, Fat Temperature, and Final Dough Temperature. The ranges of temperature for these factors change based on the type of fat you are laminating into your dough. Let's focus on the ranges for butter and margarine lamination.
Room Temperature: If you have an air-conditioned facility, you are going to want to run your production cold. For butter, your room should be ideally below 60°F (15.5°C); 57°F (14°C) would be a good target. Margarine has a higher melting point, so you can work a little warmer in the 60-62°F (16-17°C) range. The reason for these cool temperatures is to keep your dough and fat temperatures from climbing too high during the sheeting process. When using butter, we would still recommend a cooling tunnel/refrigeration step in the production process even with the controlled room temperature.
Fat Temperature: To get the fat to a consistent temperature, we begin tempering it several days before a trial. Keep in mind that we are utilizing a Fat Pump for our trials, so we start cold since this can raise the fat temperature by a few degrees while extruding the fat onto the dough. For butter, we ideally start with it at 42-46°F (~6-8°C). For most margarines, we start at 60°F (15.5°C). Margarines do vary greatly in flexibility and softness based on different oil blends and ratios, so this temperature could be different for you.
Final Dough Temperature: Controlling your dough temperature is not only vital for preventing any heat transfer to your lamination fat, but it also helps minimize proofing during the long lamination process. These temperature ranges mirror the Room Temperature guidelines with Butter-laminated doughs being 57°F (14°C) and Margarine-laminated doughs being 60°F (16°C) out of the mixer. Have a Dough Question? Email [email protected]! |
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Webinar: Evaluate Food Safety with BEAG |
Join the Bakery Equipment Assessment Group (BEAG) for a deep dive into hygienic equipment design and certification. Formerly BISSC, BEAG is revolutionizing how bakery machinery meets ANSI/ASB Z50.2 sanitation standards.
This free webinar explores why sanitary design is critical—not just for compliance, but for brand trust, operational excellence, and food safety. Learn how the certification process works, what standards apply, and how BEAG’s recognition can elevate your equipment and bakery to new levels of credibility. August 27 | 11:00 AM ET Register Today |
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American Society of Baking | 1415 Shelby Street, Suite A | Indianapolis, IN 46203 US
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