Science : Hidden Chemistry in Baking

     When you slide in a pan of cookie dough to an oven, there is a series of chemistry happening. That dough you insert will change into a cookie, one substance changes into another.

     First, when the dough reaches 92 degrees fahrenheit, the butter inside the dough melts, making the dough spreads out. The butter is an emulsion, it is a mixture of 2 substance but they don't want to mix together. In this case, water and fat along with other dairy products that help them together. As the butter melts, the water trapped inside the dough is released, as the dough gest hotter, the water vaporise, the vapor pushes the dough, expanding it.

     At 144 degrees Fahrenheit, some changes happens in the protein. Proteins in the cookie came from eggs, and eggs are composed of different kinds of protein. Each kind of protein is sensitive to different levels of heat. After raw egg heated, the strings of proteins tangles up, changing the runny raw egg into an almost solid egg, giving substance to the squishy dough.

     Water boils at 212 degrees fahrenheit, so like mud baking in the sun, your cookie dough will stiffen and harden, making cracks on the surface.

     The best part happens in 310 degrees fahrenheit, the temperature for maillard reactions. Maillard reactions happens when proteins and sugars break down and rearrange themselves, forming ring-like structures which reflect light in a way that make the cookies looks rich brown coloured. It produces a range of flavor and aroma compounds which also reacts with one another forming more complex taste and smells.

     Caramelization is the last reaction. The sugar inside the cookie breaks down under high heat (356 degrees Fahrenheit) it forms a sweet, nutty, and slightly bitter taste that defines a caramel.

     Now, are you interested in baking a cookie after reading this?