I Need a Foolproof Cheesecake Recipe

JS: Okay, a lot to unpack here.

SU: Justine. Justine. Justine. The good news is Jesse’s here to answer your questions, and he has written a cookie book for everyone listening, so you know you’re in good hands.

JS: Well, my first thought immediately was, “I already know the issue. The issue is that you’re measuring your flour wrong,” so it’s fascinating to me to hear that you’ve also weighed your ingredients. Because when I hear of a cookie that has a spread or a puck issue, the first thing is typically that you scoop into a bag of flour and you compact it instead of weighing it.

SU: Like you’re dipping your cup into the flour bag.

JS: Yes, instead of daintily, spooning and leveling it off. So, if you’re weighing it, good, or if you’re spooning and leveling it-

SU: Leveling the surface.

JS: Yeah, good. Other things could be, I know that temperature, as it pertains to spread, is another major issue, and so many people come to me and say like, “Jesse, is it better to chill my cookie dough? Because I hear everyone say, it’s so much taster if you chill it.” And I’m like, “What does the recipe say?”

SU: You are very passionate about that.

JS: I wouldn’t mess with the shape or the temperature of a dough unless the recipe says so. I wouldn’t go Googling for solutions. I would look for solutions within the recipe or find a different recipe.

SU: Got it.

JS: But it really sounds to me like a flour issue here.

SU: Interesting.

JS: I’m curious what you think, Shilpa.

SU: For a moment, especially after reading that Justine has tried to use a scale and weighed her ingredients, now I’m wondering if it’s something to do with the oven temperature and her oven itself.

JS: Her specific … Could be.

SU: Yeah.

JS: Yeah.

SU: Because when reading the cookies look done on top, but the bottoms are hollow and undercooked, I’m wondering if the oven is just running a bit hotter.

JS: Or it could be on convection.

SU: Oh, yeah.

JS: That’s another huge thing that happens.

SU: Could be convection with the fan on.

JS: Yeah, convection is an oven in which it blows really hot air, so the exterior of your items will brown and cook much faster than the interior. In the case of cookies, you’ll have beautifully browned cookies that are actually undercooked. Yeah, so check your oven. Usually, you can toggle that on and off if it does have that function.

SU: Oh, the convection function.

JS: Yeah.

SU: Okay, yeah.

JS: But never bake on convection unless your recipe states, which I don’t think a recipe ever really would, but yeah.

SU: Do you agree with the statement that Justine made that brown sugar makes for a chewier cookie?