Hard cookies

[Nica]

Hi all you bakers out there,

Although a veteran cook, I'm a total amateur when it comes to baking. I never thought that an LC lifestyle would have me doing it!

I've been playing around with ingredients to bake cookies (or biscuit as we say in UK!) and have (surprising myself!) turned out some really yummy results.

However, they're either crumbly, or they're cakey (when I add egg). I like them, and also like the chewy type of cookie, but my preference is the harder crispy style. Could a baker out there let me know what ingredients, or ratio of them, would get that crunch?

My general baking 'flour' staples are:
vital wheat gluten
soya flour
almond (and other nut) flour
flaxseed meal
soy protein isolate
baking powder, etc

I like to keep my baking as raw as possible. Meaning not using commercial products like carbolose, carbquick, bake mixes, etc. I'm also a very low carber. At the moment, my cookies tend to be based on SPI and almond flour. Is it the baking powder making them too crumbly? I haven't used vital wheat gluten for cookies, is this just for rising, or could it be used harden/bind cookies?

Just an idea would be nice, so I don't waste more ingredients.


thanks in advance :)

[Nancy LC]

Wheat gluten is sticky stuff, it'll make things bind together more. Gums like xanthan, guar, etc work similarly.

I'd consider leaving the baking powder out of cookies if you're not using gluten or egg, otherwise there's nothing there to capture and hold onto the bubbles that baking powder creates.

Other than that, I have no advise. I can't use gluten and I haven't really been able to make any decent cookie yet. Not that I've tried real hard.

I like coconut flour for some things. I dislike soy flour, it tastes nasty.

[Nica]

Wheat gluten is sticky stuff, it'll make things bind together more. Gums like xanthan, guar, etc work similarly.

Ah, ok, got it.


I'd consider leaving the baking powder out of cookies if you're not using gluten or egg, otherwise there's nothing there to capture and hold onto the bubbles that baking powder creates.

oh! That makes sense. Explains why some of my batches are turningout so 'airy' and crumbly.


I like coconut flour for some things. I dislike soy flour, it tastes nasty.

Didn't realise you could get coconut flour, sounds interesting for cookies. Haven't tried soya flour for cookies, only bread. Will keep your advice in mind and steer clear from it for cookies/cakes.

Thanks Nancy, that does help. :D

[IslandGirl]

Unfortunately, the properties of "sticky" and "crispy" and "chewy", all the wonderful things about "normal" cookies, comes from sugar or sugar and fat (butter).

It's a candying and/or caramelizing kind of thing that's going on, if it puts it into context for you.

From the ingredients you have listed as available, it sounds to me like "raw" in this context is translated more as "readily availble in the retail world".

Sooooo, I can only provide the following info:

coconut "flour" is defatted (therefore very high fiber by % of what remains) coconut; interesting stuff, fun and very weird to work with, and -- so far -- only available online, possibly only from the US (only place I've found it).
to replace the texturizing effects of sugars, you need vegetable gums (xanthan, guar, arabic, not/Sugar, not/Starch) and/or polyols (maltitol, xylitol, lactitol, sorbitol...) or polydextrose and possibly inulin. The highlighted items are those you may be able to find locally from what I've been reading. There's also some useful information in the FAQ at the top of this Kitchen Talk forum; do have a look. These all have their own wee issues, besides being hard to find. You'll see these ingredients in many successful cookie and sweet baking recipes already posted to these forums, in the Recipes section -- and the best way to learn some of these uses and try them out is to actually try out some of the existing recipes for yourself. Watch for any recipes by KevinPA, he's been doing a lot of the testing and experimenting himself, successfully.
It's not the best news in the world, but I hope this helps you on your way.

:D

[Nica]

Hi Islandgirl,

Thanks for the tips.

Yep, 'raw' means readily available, but also 'basic', as in, not a baking mix which includes several ingredients.

The coconut sojnds interesting, but might be complicated to find. Will certainly look for it. I think that a gum might be one answer to what I'm after. Thanks for that.

Yeah, have read so many recipes and tried so many, my eyes and pockets are worse for wear. lol :p

[Nica]

Well, I came up with these:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showpost.php?p=6634362&postcount=3

[Nancy LC]

Well, I came up with these:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showpost.php?p=6634362&postcount=3

Whee! Glad you came up with something that works. :)

Lots of those exotic things like coconut flour and polydextrose you really have to order online.

[IslandGirl]

Well, I came up with these:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showpost.php?p=6634362&postcount=3

Nice one! Ground nuts are a low carb baker's best friend...and work for many many things.

This recipe looks just the ticket, "basic" and successful. I'm going to be trying it out myself this weekend, when I'm allowed to let loose just a bit and have some rich (but LC) nuts and sweets. :D

Would you by any chance be going to post this recipe in either the Sweet Treats or Baked Goods Recipe Forum? And wouldn't a pic of a lovely golden brown cookie be fabulous ? ;)

:wave:

[Nica]

OK, took pics, now just need to get the darn digital camera working on my pc, will report back.