How can I make a bar cookie more dense?
Most people are trying to make their baked goods lighter and fluffier. I have the opposite issue. I am trying to recreate a recipe my mother made years ago called "tobacco cakes." They're not made with tobacco, but with mincemeat.
Here's the problem: I remember these wonderful bar cookies as being very dense. What I am creating has the same flavor as hers but it is more cakelike.
Here's the recipe I'm using:
2 cups flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp clovesCream
1 c butter
1 ½ c brown sugarAdd 1 c mincemeat and reserved dry ingredients.
Put into 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 30 mins.
I've tried taking out the baking soda and that made it a bit more dense, but it's still too cakey. What can I do to this recipe to make it more dense?
Best Answer
The usual answer is "cook it less"
Certainly a (IMHO) good fudgy brownie and a (IMHO) horrid cakelike brownie can be made from the same recipe, with only the cooking time changing. While I have not made your mincemeat-based-bars, the same phenomenon presumably applies.
If you are faithfully following the cooking time your mother used, it's possible that the oven your mother used and oven you are using vary wildly in actual temperature at the same set temperature.
Pictures about "How can I make a bar cookie more dense?"
What makes a cookie more dense?
Cookies that are dense and chewy incorporate more moisture into the batter. This can be achieved by making substitutions with ingredients, or even just changing the way you incorporate certain ingredients. Plus, your particular baking technique and your method of storing cookies can also play a role.How do I make my cookies thicker?
How To Make Thicker Cookies (Using 10 Simple Tips)What makes a cookie firmer?
Fixing the Ingredients One thing you can consider doing is adding more flour to the dough before you bake it. Flour is known for providing a structure to baked goods, so when you add it to cookies, it helps to give the cookies a firmer texture.Why arent my cookies dense?
Using too much flour will make your cookies too cakey, so try reducing the flour amount by two tablespoons. Avoid using cake flour instead; try a mix of all-purpose flour and bread flour for a more dense and chewy texture. Using too much baking powder.Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
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