Baked Cookie recipe help, please?

In article <[email hidden]>,

JeanineAlyse said:

These turned out to be a very big hit for everyone, yet I wish they
were not so dense. Hard for me to properly explain, but I want them
to remain the size they are, for each one to weigh less, and thereby
to be more crumbly than they are?

(snip)
As I hope to have

Quoted message said:

conveyed, these cookies were very good, just too dense for my liking.

...Picky ~JA~

How soft is the dough, Jeanine? I've got a cookie press disc for making
that washboard thang -- I wonder if your dough would work in one of
those. Makes a thin cookie. JAT.
--
-Barb, <http://www.jamlady.eboard.com> 6/6/05 Sam I Am!
June 25, 1945: Me and Carly Simon. I wonder if she makes jam.
(It's not too early to shop -- good chocolate and cheap gin.
Or is it cheap chocolate and good gin? I never
remember. No jam--coal to Newcastle and all that. "-)

From: Melba's Jammin' - Barb

Quoted message said:

How soft is the dough, Jeanine? I've got a cookie press disc for making
that washboard thang -- I wonder if your dough would work in one of
those. Makes a thin cookie. JAT.

The dough is not soft enough, methinks. It's rather a heavy one, and
the coconut plus walnuts would inhibit using a press disc, hey? I've
never used one of those, so I don't know the mechanics of 'em. These
cookies push toward 1/2" in thickness baked from the 1/4" slices.
Maybe that's my answer? Cut less than 1/4" slices from the logs to
have them turn out less dense?

....Picky ~JA~

In article <[email hidden]>,

JeanineAlyse said:

From: Melba's Jammin' - Barb

Quoted message said:

How soft is the dough, Jeanine? I've got a cookie press disc for making
that washboard thang -- I wonder if your dough would work in one of
those. Makes a thin cookie. JAT.

The dough is not soft enough, methinks. It's rather a heavy one, and
the coconut plus walnuts would inhibit using a press disc, hey? I've
never used one of those, so I don't know the mechanics of 'em. These
cookies push toward 1/2" in thickness baked from the 1/4" slices.
Maybe that's my answer? Cut less than 1/4" slices from the logs to
have them turn out less dense?

...Picky ~JA~

OK, it wasn't my best idea. :-)
Pretty tough to cut a slice thinner than 1/4", I'd think. Could you
flatten more those little suckers with a rolling pin once they've been
cut, then do the fork thing. I'm thinking, I'm thinking!! Cream of
tartar seems to make for crumblier cookies - I wonder if there's any way
to get that into the recipe. I see that you want them to remain the
same size -- make the log smaller and roll them to flatten more? I'm
thinking, I'm thinking!! Or, change your attitude and get some coffee
in which to dunk them. Stick with me, Kid. I've got a million good
ideas.
--
-Barb, <http://www.jamlady.eboard.com> 6/6/05 Sam I Am!
June 25, 1945: Me and Carly Simon. I wonder if she makes jam.
(It's not too early to shop -- good chocolate and cheap gin.
Or is it cheap chocolate and good gin? I never
remember. No jam--coal to Newcastle and all that. "-)

JeanineAlyse said:

The June/July issue of Cook's Country has a cookie recipe for
"Washboards" that sounded like something I would especially like, so I
gave it a try. Near always when I bake cookies I double a standard
recipe so I have plenty for my Marines, as well as a few small bags to
freeze just for my other wanting days of them. These turned out to be
a very big hit for everyone, yet I wish they were not so dense. Hard
for me to properly explain, but I want them to remain the size they
are, for each one to weigh less, and thereby to be more crumbly than
they are?

Please, can someone here offer a change to this recipe so as to have
them bake into a less dense, more crunbly cookie? I altered the recipe
because of not having as much coconut as I'd thought, and also because
I wanted walnuts in them. The one "bad" I did was to try softening the
butter using the microwave, with it actually melting, so I refrigerated
it to "cool" before using. Otherwise, here is the original recipe I
doubled, as well as my alterations:

WASHBOARDS - Makes 3 dozen cookies
The dough can be made ahead of time. Simply shape the dough into a
rectangular log, wrap the log in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to
2 days or freeze for up to 1 month. If frozen, defrost dough on
counter for 20 minutes before slicing.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 cup packed light brown sugar
*1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes (16 baked up well for me).

I found another recipe for washboard cookies that was practically
identical to the one you provided so I'm assuming that the cookies are
probably suppose to have a heavy texture. If you want to lighten the
texture I would try adding another egg to the recipe. If that doesn't
quite give you the results you want then you could try adding a little
more butter. Adding more butter however will cause the cookies to
spread out more.

Melba's Jammin said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

JeanineAlyse said:

From: Melba's Jammin' - Barb

Quoted message said:

How soft is the dough, Jeanine? I've got a cookie press disc
for making that washboard thang -- I wonder if your dough would
work in one of those. Makes a thin cookie. JAT.

The dough is not soft enough, methinks. It's rather a heavy one,
and the coconut plus walnuts would inhibit using a press disc,
hey? I've never used one of those, so I don't know the mechanics
of 'em. These cookies push toward 1/2" in thickness baked from
the 1/4" slices. Maybe that's my answer? Cut less than 1/4"
slices from the logs to have them turn out less dense?

...Picky ~JA~

OK, it wasn't my best idea. :-) Pretty tough to cut a slice
thinner than 1/4", I'd think. Could you flatten more those little
suckers with a rolling pin once they've been cut, then do the fork
thing. I'm thinking, I'm thinking!! Cream of tartar seems to
make for crumblier cookies - I wonder if there's any way to get
that into the recipe. I see that you want them to remain the
same size -- make the log smaller and roll them to flatten more?
I'm thinking, I'm thinking!! Or, change your attitude and get some
coffee in which to dunk them. Stick with me, Kid. I've got a
million good ideas.

OH, OH, Is one of your good ideas going to be "send me some, so that I
can tell you what to do"? :o)

All kidding aside, there are many recipes that call for the dough to
be rolled out to 1/8" thickness, before cutting into shapes.

In article <[email hidden]>, Margaret Suran

Quoted message said:

Melba's Jammin said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

JeanineAlyse said:

From: Melba's Jammin' - Barb

> How soft is the dough, Jeanine? I've got a cookie press disc
> for making that washboard thang -- I wonder if your dough would
> work in one of those. Makes a thin cookie. JAT.

The dough is not soft enough, methinks. It's rather a heavy one,
and the coconut plus walnuts would inhibit using a press disc,
hey? I've never used one of those, so I don't know the mechanics
of 'em. These cookies push toward 1/2" in thickness baked from
the 1/4" slices. Maybe that's my answer? Cut less than 1/4"
slices from the logs to have them turn out less dense?

...Picky ~JA~

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

OK, it wasn't my best idea. :-) Pretty tough to cut a slice
thinner than 1/4", I'd think. Could you flatten more those little
suckers with a rolling pin once they've been cut, then do the fork
thing. I'm thinking, I'm thinking!! Cream of tartar seems to
make for crumblier cookies - I wonder if there's any way to get
that into the recipe. I see that you want them to remain the
same size -- make the log smaller and roll them to flatten more?
I'm thinking, I'm thinking!! Or, change your attitude and get some
coffee in which to dunk them. Stick with me, Kid. I've got a
million good ideas.

OH, OH, Is one of your good ideas going to be "send me some, so that I
can tell you what to do"? :o)

Nope. :-) Miss Jeanine Alyse is sending me something else--and it
should be here today because I need it by tomorrow afternoon at 3:00
p.m. C'mon USPS! :-) Marine stuff for a grandnephew who's graduating
from high school and signing on with the reserves.

Quoted message said:

All kidding aside, there are many recipes that call for the dough to
be rolled out to 1/8" thickness, before cutting into shapes.

Sure but that's a "cut out" cookie, not what's happening here. I had to
read the instructions a couple times to get the mental picture. This
appears to be an "icebox" cookie. The dough is shaped into a log
(1x3"xlength of the log) and then 1/4" slices are cut from it so that,
laying on the cookie sheet, each cookie is 1x3x1/4". I think it would
be really tough to cut a 1/8" slice from that log and have it hold
together.
--
-Barb, <http://www.jamlady.eboard.com> 6/6/05 Sam I Am!
June 25, 1945: Me and Carly Simon. I wonder if she makes jam.
(It's not too early to shop -- good chocolate and cheap gin.
Or is it cheap chocolate and good gin? I never
remember. No jam--coal to Newcastle and all that. "-)