Dark Brown Sugar from H-Mart
Today I made some more Cook's Illustrated Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies, but instead of regular Domino's Dark Brown Sugar, I used the dark brown sugar I got from the Korean grocery H-Mart in Washington, DC awhile back. The shade of brown of that brown sugar is akin to the color of coffee grounds, which is very very much darker than the Domino's version. I really love the flavor and the larger grain of this sugar, and so I am eagerly awaiting another opportunity to stock up.
However, despite my great appreciation for the different qualities between the two brands, the decision to use the Korean brown sugar instead of Domino's was a spur-of-the-moment one, or in other words, not thought out. So I was very surprised halfway through making the cookies to find that I ended up with a deep, chocolate-colored batter instead of the normal all-American chocolate chip cookie color, as seen below in the finished products (normal cookie from last batch on left, Korean dark brown sugar version on right):
It's an interesting study in what sugar can do for the flavor and color and texture. There's a stronger caramel flavor, a crispier finish, and color reminiscent of my skin tone after a summer of running around in the sun as a kid... as opposed to the paler cookie color, which is akin to my current skin tone after being in the lab all year around for 6 years straight.
However, despite my great appreciation for the different qualities between the two brands, the decision to use the Korean brown sugar instead of Domino's was a spur-of-the-moment one, or in other words, not thought out. So I was very surprised halfway through making the cookies to find that I ended up with a deep, chocolate-colored batter instead of the normal all-American chocolate chip cookie color, as seen below in the finished products (normal cookie from last batch on left, Korean dark brown sugar version on right):
It's an interesting study in what sugar can do for the flavor and color and texture. There's a stronger caramel flavor, a crispier finish, and color reminiscent of my skin tone after a summer of running around in the sun as a kid... as opposed to the paler cookie color, which is akin to my current skin tone after being in the lab all year around for 6 years straight.
Ah, yes, but does it taste better?
ReplyDeleteHi Rose, thanks for stopping by! Hm, your question is a difficult one. The Cook's Illustrated Perfect Chocolate Chip cookie in and of itself is tremendously delicious, and using the Korean dark brown sugar didn't change the aspects of the cookie that are attributed to its deliciousness (i.e. crispy outside and chewy center, nutty butter flavor, crumb texture). Would I prefer this version to the original version? I would say no, but not because it's "worse"; rather because it's different from what I expect from this recipe. I am sure there would be people that would think the darker version tastes better...
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