Welcome to Granny’s Cookie Class
the Structure of A Cookie
This class begins with a simple question:
What makes a cookie a cookie?
struc·ture (strŭk′chər)
noun
- The arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex.
- Something constructed or built.
- The organization of parts that determines the form or function of a whole.
Verb
- To arrange or organize according to a plan or system.
- To give structure to.
A cookie is a structure.
In baking, Structure is the Framework that Ingredients Create Together. Every ingredient either builds, supports, weakens, or modifies that framework. To create a particular style of cookie, we must understand how ingredients are arranged and interact to produce the structure and texture we desire.
Every successful cookie solves the same structural problems. The ingredients may change, but the principles do not.
Most baking classes teach recipes.
This class teaches principles.
Instead of memorizing recipes, you’ll learn to recognize the structural patterns that make cookies work. Once you understand why a cookie works, you’ll never look at a recipe the same way again.
We discover those principles by examining three very different cookies.
Granny’s Cottage Macaroons, Tropical Shortbread, and German Chocolate Cookies each represent a different approach to building structure. Together, they demonstrate that there is more than one way to create a successful grain-free cookie.
As you work through each recipe, you’ll begin to see what every ingredient contributes and how changing even a single variable can affect the finished cookie.
By the end, you won’t just be following a recipe.
You’ll understand how to design a cookie.