The Chemistry Of Baking Cookies

Baking cookies have been a tradition for the longest time and considering it part
of chemistry is something that impacts anyone since not everyone knows how baking
can be part of chemistry or consider bakers scientists.

Learning how to put all the ingredients together and knowing how to measure
them correctly will be helpful to create the chemical reactions that are required to bake
cookies. In this recipe sucrose (C12H22O11), caramelized sucrose, unsalted butter
(which is a fat) and is also an emulsion meaning that butter is a mixture of two
substances that can’t be mixed with water and fat, a large egg that works as an
emulsifier, consists of water and is a protein, sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), albumin,
flour (containing gluten), salt (NaCl), and vanilla extract for flavor will be used.
When baking, the tastiest reaction occurs at 310 Fahrenheit, which is the temperature
for Maillard reactions. Maillard reactions happen when sugar and protein breakdown, in
this phase of the reaction the aroma, brown color, and flavor are produced.
The way cookies always get that shiny and light brown crust is thanks to the breaking of
sucrose into simple sugars glucose and fructose. This process is called caramelization
which starts at 356 Fahrenheit degrees and continues up to 390 Fahrenheit degrees
and is also the last reaction to take place in baking after the breakdown of sugars under
high heat.

Every ingredient and step in baking cookies plays an important role to produce
edible and healthy food to prevent salmonella. The way this works is by killing the
bacteria; salmonella has impressive surviving skills, they can live for weeks and even
survive freezing temperatures, but when the dough hits 136 Fahrenheit temperature the
bacteria dies permanently. This step of baking helps prevent 142,000 Americans from
being infected every year.
The fats that are used in this recipe are the ones in charge of the texture and color, in
this case, butter. Emulsifiers are always needed in any baking recipe, the way they work
is to help all ingredients stick together and don’t separate, in this recipe eggs work as an
emulsifier, and gluten can also have a similar job as the emulsifier since gluten can help
with holding the cookies together and making them have a chewy texture. Flour, baking
soda, and salt all work together helping the cookies rise.

The way that dough can convert into cookies is thanks to the role chemical
reactions play. In the baking process is when all the chemical reactions start happening;
when sodium bicarbonate heats up it causes a chemical reaction decomposing into
water and carbon dioxide ( Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2 ) where carbon dioxide (CO2) gas
makes the bubbles in the cookies helping them rise preventing cookies from being too
dense and salt (NaCl) prevents the bubbles from getting too big that could lead to flat
and weak cookies once they come out of the oven.
To form the dough heat changes the shape of molecules making the gluten in flour form
a polymer that works together with the albumin protein of egg and the emulsifier lecithin.

Sources:

https://www.thoughtco.com/chemistry-baking-cookies-4140220

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/12/03/248347009/cookie-baking-chemistry-ho
w-to-engineer-your-perfect-sweet-treat

https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-chemistry-of-cookies-stephanie-warren