​Ashton Paulus

     My science artifact is my science fair project for the 2014 ACLC Science Fair. I chose this project because I received a first place ribbon for my project. I never really excelled at science, so this project is very important to me. 

 

The Secret To A Perfect Cookie

Investigative Question:

Do cookies taste better depending on the amount of time it took to prepare them?

Research:

To make cookie dough, dry and wet ingredients are combined. The result is a mixture that is wet enough that it doesn't crumble, but dry enough that it doesn't ooze into a puddle. If you were to magnify the cookie dough hundreds of times under a microscope, you would see little bits of wet and dry ingredients sitting next to one another, they'd be jumbled together, but they'd still be separate ingredients. But, if you let the cookie dough sit for a while, something new happens. The water from the wet ingredients actually goes into the dry ingredients, it is absorbed. Similar to how a sponge absorbs a puddle of water. When the dry ingredients absorb some water from the wet ingredients, all the ingredients become more similar, which results in cookie dough that is more uniform and thus, cooks more evenly. But does that result in a better tasting cookie? You can find out in this science fair project by conducting a taste test! You'll make two batches of cookies: one where the dough is allowed to sit in the refrigerator for two days before it is baked, and one where the cookie dough is baked right away after you mix the ingredients together. The cookie dough batch that will sit for two days must be refrigerated while the dry ingredients absorb water from the wet ingredients, otherwise the dough might start to spoil and would be unsafe to eat. Once you've made both batches of cookies, you'll have your friends and family taste cookies from each batch and tell you which one they like better. Which cookie do you think will taste better? Mix, refrigerate, and bake to find out! This trick was first used and discovered by Wally Amos, but you probably know him as Famous Amos.

Hypothesis:

The cookie dough that was refrigerated for 48 hours before being baked will produce the better tasting cookies because the cookies will have been more evenly baked because the dry ingredients had time to mix properly with the wet ingredients

Procedure:

To make the cookie dough, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small mixing bowl. In a second bowl, use a spoon or electric mixer to beat the butter, granulated white sugar, packed brown sugar, and vanilla extract until the mixture is creamy. Add the eggs to the butter mixture, one at a time, beating well after each one is added. Gradually add the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Continue to mix the dough until it is well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.To bake the dough, preheat the oven to 375°F. Drop tablespoon-sized mounds of cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then place them on a wire cooling rack. Leave the cookies on the cooling rack until they are completely cool to the touch.Follow the cookie recipe to make one batch of cookie dough.Do not bake this dough.Put the dough in a small mixing bowl.Cover the top of the dough with a layer of plastic wrap. Make sure the wrap is actually touching the dough and not just stretched over the top of the bowl. This will prevent the cookie dough from drying out. For added protection, add a second layer of plastic wrap on top. Refrigerate the batch of cookie dough for 48 hours (two days). Make sure that the cookie dough is stored in the refrigerator the whole time and not left out on the counter. Non Refrigerated cookie dough is not safe to eat or bake!This batch will be your refrigerated cookie dough.It will be ready to be baked in two days. For example, if you made the dough Friday night it would be ready to bake on Sunday night.Once the refrigerated cookie dough has been in the refrigerator for 48 hours, bake it, as directed by your recipe. Because ovens are different, note down in your lab notebook for exactly how long you baked the cookies by the time they were done.Important: Let the refrigerated dough sit on the counter for 1 hour to warm back up to room temperature before baking.Immediately after baking the batch of refrigerated cookie dough, make a second batch of cookie dough. This will be the freshly made cookie dough. Bake this batch of cookies right away for exactly as long as you baked the refrigerated batch.Use the same recipe, oven setting, ingredient brands, cooking time, and cookie sheet for both batches of cookies.Make sure to keep the cookies from the two batches separate from one another so that you don't mix them up.As soon as the refrigerated cookie dough cookies are cool, it is a good idea to move them to a cookie tin or other container. Label the container "1" to indicate it was the first cookie batch you made. This will help prevent you from mixing up the two batches of cookies.When the freshly made cookie dough cookies are cool, move them to a second container labeled "2."At the end of the second day, you will have two batches of cookies baked, cooled, and stored in labeled cookie tins or containers. Now you're ready for the taste test!The taste test does not have to be conducted the same day you bake the cookies. The cookies can be stored in airtight containers for up to two days before conducting the taste test.Once both the refrigerated and the freshly made cookie batches are baked and cooled, you're almost ready for the taste test.Prepare a brief questionnaire on pieces of paper to hand out to each volunteer, as well as writing utensils. The questionnaire should include the following questions:Do you detect a difference in flavor between the two cookies?Do you prefer the flavor of the cookie from container 1 or container 2?Tell the volunteers that you are conducting a taste test between two batches of cookies. Do not tell them what the difference between the batches is. Have the volunteers take a cookie from the refrigerated cookie dough batch in container "1." Ask them to eat the cookie, paying careful attention to how it tastes.Next, have the volunteers take a cookie from the freshly made cookie dough batch in container "2." Ask them to eat the second cookie, also paying careful attention to how it tastes.The volunteers might appreciate a glass of water (or milk) to drink between their cookies—this is fine and will help them enjoy each cookie more.Ask the volunteers to fill out their questionnaires and hand them back to you.Record their answers in a data table in your lab notebook.Once you've recorded their answers, you can tell your volunteers what the difference was between the two cookie batches, but don't do this in the hearing of other volunteers whom you haven't tested yet!Note: Feel free to sample your cookies and see if you detect a difference between the two batches, but do not include yourself in the data table because you already know what the difference is between the two cookie batches. You only want data from people who are uninformed about the experiment.Once you've gathered all your data, you are ready to analyze it.Make a bar graph showing your data. There should be three bars, one for each possible answer.You can make the bar graph by hand or use a website like Create a Graph to make the graph on the computer and print it.Did most of the people detect a difference in taste between the two batches of cookies? Which batch of cookies did your volunteers prefer: the refrigerated cookie dough batch or the freshly made cookie dough batch?

Materials List:

Mixing bowls (3)

Electric mixer or mixing spoon

Measuring spoons

Measuring cup

Plastic wrap

Refrigerator

Cookie sheet

Oven

Optional: Wire cooling rackIngredients to make two batches of your favorite cookie recipe.

Cookie tins or other containers to hold baked cookies (2)

Volunteers to taste-test the cookies (at least 10 people, not including yourself)

Paper to make taste-test questionnaire (one piece of paper for each volunteer)

Pencils, pens, or other writing utensils (one for each volunteer)

Lab notebookGraph paper