First, the classification of biscuits
What we usually call cookies can be divided into sweet cookies and salty cookies, and sweet cookies can be divided into hard dough and soft dough according to the required dough. Generally speaking, the ingredients of the dough used in hard dough biscuits are relatively low, that is, the content of oil and sugar is less. In the process of making dough, gluten needs to be stirred out, and chemical expansion agents need to be added in batch production. Usually, biscuits are extruded and baked. The finished product is brittle.
The composition of soft dough cake is higher than that of hard dough, that is, there is more oil and sugar. When the dough is stirred, as long as there are no particles, it is basically enough to see no flour, and gluten cannot be produced. Generally, chemical expansion agents should be added in batch production, and it is rolled into pieces before baking and then baked with a model. Compared with hard dough biscuits, it tastes softer. Generally, this is the main formula made by the family court. In addition, many cake shops and books in Japan are mostly of this type, which is more suitable for our Asian tastes.
Salted biscuits are actually the most common, generally referring to the soda biscuits we usually talk about, which are mainly salty, with yeast as the swelling agent. After the dough is stirred, it will be fermented for a certain period of time, then rolled into pieces, molded with molds and baked. This kind of biscuits can be divided into original flavor and seasoning.
Second, the use of biscuit materials
1 flour
High-gluten flour, medium-gluten flour and low-gluten flour can all be used to make cookies. What kind of flour to use mainly depends on the required finished product style and crispness. If we want the baked products to have various styles and beautiful shapes without excessive expansion, and the taste is hard and crisp, then we should choose high-gluten flour. On the contrary, if we want the finished products to be loose and soft, and the shape is not too demanding, then we should use low-gluten flour. For the formula with high ingredients, if there is more oil and sugar, and if the flour gluten is too low, the product will be too soft, then we can also adjust it by adding medium gluten flour appropriately, or mix high gluten flour with low gluten flour.
2. Oil
Cookie oil must be original oil, and cannot be over-flavored. Usually, cookie oil has the following requirements:
A, oily is better. The oiliness mentioned here generally means that it can increase the softness and looseness of finished biscuits. Each oil is actually different. In fact, the oiliness of lard is the best, but this lard must be deodorized, otherwise it will have a special taste and cannot be directly used as oil for biscuits and cakes.
B. stability. Generally speaking, stability means how long the cookies can be kept, because the products made of oil will produce a kind of acid rot or rancidity if they are kept for a long time. If the stability of oil is good, and the finished products are placed in sealed cans or packaged to isolate the air, they can be kept for one month. Of course, the taste will definitely be worse, but as a business, the longer it can be kept, the higher its commercial value.
C, oil fusion. It mainly means that when stirring, air can be quickly stirred in and wrapped, and eggs can be quickly absorbed and quickly blended with powder. If the oil has poor fusibility, its expansibility is poor and the finished product is hard.
At present, butter is the most ideal for making biscuits, and of course some products are deodorized and hydrogenated lard. However, the cost of butter is more expensive, and its fusion is really not as good as lard, so many commercial applications only use part of butter in the formula, while the other part is changed to lard or other oils.
3. Sugar
The main function of sugar in biscuits is to flavor, color and adjust the spread of products. Sugar can be divided into the following types according to the degree of thickness:
A, coarse sugar. Generally speaking, dough is not used, but used for surface decoration.
B. fine sugar. In addition to being used for surface decoration, it can be used in the formula to increase the taste and expansion of the product. However, if it is a biscuit with high ingredients, when more oil is used, the water will be correspondingly less, so a large amount of sugar cannot be dissolved. In this case, fine sugar is not easy to be used in the formula with high ingredients and more oil.
C. powdered sugar. Most of them are used in high-content formulas or formulas with less water content, so they should be screened before use to prevent caking.
D, syrup. Generally, only a small amount is used to improve the flavor and toughness of the product, and the dosage is usually 5- 10% of the flour. If it is used too much, the finished product will not swell easily and be hard.
4. Chemical expansion agent. Baking powder and baking soda are usually used the most. The main function is to help increase the volume and softness of the product.
5. Cocoa powder and matcha powder. It is mainly used for seasoning. The dosage of cocoa powder is generally 10-20% of that of flour, and that of matcha powder is 5- 10%, depending on different product requirements.
6, spices. Simply put, it is to make cookies with different flavors by seasoning. Many stores are just a kind of dough, and with different spices, countless kinds of cookies are formed. Generally speaking, the more spices, the better. At present, spices can be divided into natural spices, synthetic spices and artificial spices.
7. salt. The dosage is very small, or even not added, but for the formula with high content of sugar, adding salt can reduce the sweetness appropriately.