I don't get why everyone insists on weighing flour for cookies

I've been baking for about 15 years now, mostly at home but I did a short stint helping out at a small bakery in Ohio. Every baking group I'm in online swears by weighing ingredients. But half the cookie recipes I grew up on used cups and turned out fine. Last week I made two batches of chocolate chip cookies back to back, same recipe, one by weight and one by scooping and leveling cups. They came out nearly identical. The weighed batch was maybe 2% more consistent but not worth pulling out the scale every time. Has anyone else done a side by side and found the difference is overblown?

2 comments

2 Comments

theamason18d ago

The scooping method can actually vary a lot depending on how packed your flour gets, which is why some bakers see bigger differences than others. Your 2% consistency gap might just mean you're really good at scooping, but a lot of home bakers end up with way more or less flour than they think. It's possible your scooping technique is just more reliable than average, so the scale feels pointless for you but helps others who aren't as consistent.

hart.zara18d ago

Your scooping technique is just more reliable than average" hits the nail on the head. It's the same with measuring cups in anything really lol.