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Please help chocolate chip cookies

19K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  Cyndee 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
#3 ·
I would say that you would be better off leaving out the baking soda. There is not enough acidity in the recipe to react with a teaspoon full of baking soda (sodium bi-carbonate) and when the cookies are heated the bicarbonate is converted into sodium carbonate which has an unpleasant metallic, soapy taste.

Basics of baking powders and baking soda: Baking powder is 25% baking soda combined with enough acid to neutralise it and a filler such as corn starch to prevent it reacting while sitting in your cupboard. The normal amount for cake recipes is one teaspoon of baking powder (or 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda) per cup (4 oz weight) of flour. If there is plenty of acid in the recipe (such as buttermilk, sour milk, or lots of molasses) baking soda is a good idea. It is ok to use baking powder in an acidic recipe but the baking soda in the powder will tend to react with the food acids and the slower reacting acid in the powder will mostly remain. (That's usually ok, because the acids in single acting powders: monocalcium phosphate and cream of tartar just taste a little sour and not unpleasant - and the acids in double acting powders are only a little less pleasant.) But if you have extra baking soda left over after it has reacted with all the acid it can find - it will taste very bad because the remaining baking soda will change to washing soda when heated - and that does not taste good at all.

While 1 teaspoon baking powder (1/4 tsp soda) per cup of flour is normal for cakes, I'd use less for cookies and a single teaspoon of baking powder (or even half that) should be fine for three cups of flour in a cookie recipe.
 
#5 ·
Thanks everyone for the wanderful advice. Could vanilla extract cause it to be bitter? It’s not actually a bitter taste. I don’t know how to explain the flavor it leaves but it’s definitely an unpleasant after taste that remains on the palate
 
#14 ·
Thanks everyone for the wanderful advice. Could vanilla extract cause it to be bitter? It's not actually a bitter taste. I don't know how to explain the flavor it leaves but it's definitely an unpleasant after taste that remains on the palate
Just my two cents on an old post... always check the freshness of your ingredients and use quality chocolate. My chocolate chip recipe uses only baking soda (1/2 tsp) and I use kosher salt, not sea salt. I've found that flour can absorb smells and flavors if not stored in an airtight container, which affects the quality of the finish product. In regards to the vanilla, I've run into a couple of "bad" vanillas in the past. One had a super strong alcohol smell, and another smelled "sour". I threw away and did not use in both instances.
 
#9 ·
This recipe made a beautiful cookie and tasty cookie except for the aftertaste.

With a little googling and searching online for what caused my cookies to taste weird I'm leaning toward too much baking soda or baking powder or both? ‍♂

I will check the conversions again to makes sure everything was correct (for the 3rd time haha ).

I think I'll just try a new recipe like the one you had mentioned.

thanks again @brian
 
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