If you are ever in a situation where you find you don’t have a certain ingredient on hand, check the list below.  There might be something you are interested in. It doesn’t have everything on it but there substitutions and solutions you will find that come in handy in a pinch!!
                                                                                                                                                            1 square of unsweetened chocolate           3 T. cocoa plus ½ tsp. shortening (melted) 

1 cup honey                                            3/4 cup sugar plus ¼ cup liquid

1 T. cornstarch (for thickening)                  2 T. flour (approximately)

1 whole egg                                             2 egg yolks plus 1 T. water (in cookies, etc.)

1 whole egg                                             2 egg yolks in custards and such Mixtures

1 cup fresh sweet milk                             1/2 cup evaporated milk plus ½ cup water

1 cup fresh sweet milk                             powdered milk plus water (see pkg)

1 cup fresh sweet milk                             l cup sour milk or buttermilk plus ½ soda (decrease baking powder 2 tsp.)

1 cup sour milk or buttermilk                   1 T. lemon juice or vinegar plus enough fresh milk to make 1 cup

1 cup of canned tomatoes                       1 1/3 cups tomatoes, simmer 10 minutes
                                                                                            

5 regular marshmallows = ½ cup              l marshmallow = 10 miniature marshmallows

INCREASE RECIPES

To make a double recipe:

Use exactly twice the amount of each ingredient.  Add extra minute of beating for cakes.  If the increased recipe calls for uneven amounts of ingredients, it is a help to remember that:

2/3 cup = ½ cup plus 2 2/3 T.

5/8 cup = ½ cup plus 2 T.

7/8 cup = ¾ cup plus 2 T.

Use twice as many pans of the same size indicated for the original recipe or a pan double in area…so that the batter will be the same depth in the pan and same baking time and temperature may be maintained.

PART 4

FLOUR

FLOUR is the foundation of the cookie, but the flavor should never be apparent when you taste the baked cookie.  Cookies with too much flour have a pasty taste and a tough dry texture

Most recipes call for all-purpose flour, which is a mixture of soft, low-gluten wheat and hard, high-gluten wheat.  The combination gives the flour just enough gluten to produce light, tender cookies without making them elastic, like bread. 

Some recipes specify using other types of flour, such as whole wheat or cake flour.  Whole wheat is more nutritious and nutty-tasting than all purpose flour because it includes bran and germ.  But too much bran and germ can make the cookies heavy and dry; even whole wheat cookies should contain at least ¼ cup of all purpose flour.  If the recipe doesn’t call for ¼ cup of all purpose flour plus the wheat flour, then subtract ¼ cup wheat flour and add ¼ cup of all purpose in its place.

CAKE FLOUR is made from very finely milled, low gluten wheat.  It produces the lightest, most tender results.  Cake flour is appropriate to use in cookies that undergo a lot of handling, such as those formed by pressing or rolling the dough.

Regardless of type of flour used, it should be added last and mixed as little as possible.  Overmixing the flour forces air out of the dough and created tough, hard cookies.

Few cookie recipes call for sifting the flour, but it should be carefully measured.  For accuracy, spoon flour lightly into the appropriate-sized measuring cup and scrape away the excess with the back of a knife.

Gluten- water soluble sticky protein- gives strength, structure, and cohesiveness to dough

Part four of six

                    PART 3                             

 Eggs

The protein in the eggs binds the dough together, and the moisture adds liquid.  Cookies that don’t contain any egg, such as shortbread, tend to be fragile and crumbly.  Cookies that contain lots of eggs, such as brownies and bars, tend to be puffy and cake-like. 

When recipes call for eggs, they usually mean the grade-A large variety.  The eggs are beaten into the butter and sugar mixture one at a time to keep the creamed mixture fluffy and to beat in the air.  Adding them all at once cuts down on beating time and makes the creamed mixture heavy.  Fresh eggs at room temperature hold the most air.  Eggs seldom need to be beaten before they are added to cookies.

Part three of six     

BUTTER, MARGARINE, OR SHORTENING

Most people don’t have a clue what makes a cookie crumble.  People love to eat them, but all too often their ideas about why one cookie is crisp and another is dry are pretty half-baked.  `All cookies begin with dough with the exception of macaroons, meringues, madelines, unbaked cookies or cake-like cookies. They begin with batters.

Understanding how each ingredient affects the dough is the first defense against cookie catastrophes.  It is also the best guarantee that your cookies will emerge like a county fair winner.

Butter, margarine, unsalted butter, solid shortening or lard is generally called for in a cookie recipe.  Usually they are interchangeable but each produces slightly different results.  Butter improves a cookie’s flavor, and margarine improves its texture.  Solid shortening creates soft, spongy cookies that stay soft for a long time but have little taste.  Lard creates flaky, slightly dry-texture cookies.  Butter cookies tend to burn easier and have a crisper texture.  If they are baked at too high a temperature they will develop a greasy film on the bottom.  

Many cookies have a combination of both butter and margarine which produces the best of both worlds.  Margarine makes the cookie hold its shape, and butter gives it that distinctive flavor.

Most recipes tell you to cream the butter, margarine or shortening.  This softens it and beats in air so that the cookie is lighter and fluffier.

There is a danger of overbeating, however — especially in warm, humid weather.  If the fat becomes too warm and soft, the dough loses its airiness and becomes greasy. The baked cookies are flat and flabby.

To avoid overbeating, the fat should be chilled before beginning to mix the dough.  Chilling the dough before the cookies are formed and baked also helps them retain their shape.

Avoid baking with shipped or diet margarine and whipped butter because they contain a high amount of water. Never substitute liquid fat for solid fat.  It just doesn’t work!!! 

Part one of 6

Watch for next tip!Gogi