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I made this recipe last weekend and while it came out very tasty, there was the occasional gritty texture/crunch similar to sand at the beach getting in your mouth. This was more of an issue since the recipe produces a more cake-like cookie, so the grit stands out more.

The batter was pretty thick and difficult to stir, but it seemed fairly well mixed. I have a feeling this is somehow related to the baking powder/soda, but not entirely sure.

[EDIT]

SAJ14SAJ mentioned the creaming method being a possible source to the issue. I wasn't entirely sure with that step, how exactly would you "cream together" sugar and butter? It said only to soften and not melt, and it definitely didn't appear "creamy" when I was done with it.

JWiley
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    Creaming means to beat together the fat and sugar, incorporating air, until the mixture lightens in color and is somewhat fluffy. This is definitely much easier done with an electric mixer. – SAJ14SAJ Aug 26 '13 at 14:08
  • That's probably the source then, mine was nothing like that. – JWiley Aug 26 '13 at 14:11

3 Answers3

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It is unlikely that the chemical leavening was a contributor to perceived grittiness. If you had extra leavening, especially in clumps large enough to perceive, you would also have a very metallic off taste, that surely would have been worth mentioning.

These cookies are made by the creaming method, and have very little water. The most likely suspect to cause graininess is the sugar.

If there were clumps in the granulated sugar for any reason, they might not dissolve completely during the mixing or baking, leaving a gritty texture.

The way to prevent this, if you consider the effort worth it, is to sift the sugar through a very fine strainer prior to using it in your dough.

SAJ14SAJ
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  • There seems to be at least some grittiness in each cookie, so it wasn't just a few clumps here and there. No metallic taste either. Can I just add something additional to the mix to allow the sugar to dissolve better? If it's a small amount of moisture it would cook out anyway, right? – JWiley Aug 26 '13 at 14:02
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    The pumpkin should be wet enough to dissolve all the sugar under normal conditions. I mean, really, the liquid in the butter _should_ do it... Did you happen to use a coarse sugar like turbinado? – SourDoh Aug 26 '13 at 16:45
  • Maybe not the butter, but the eggs anyway.... – SAJ14SAJ Aug 26 '13 at 16:48
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    Definitely the eggs. I was just thinking of things like shortbread that manage to not be gritty, but have almost no "wet" ingredients. – SourDoh Aug 26 '13 at 20:50
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Cause of gritty sugar texture: Baking immediately after mixing dough instead of wrapping/covering it chilling and waiting at least 1 hour, 2 hours for best results. Its common, no one wants to wait 2 hours for homemade cookies:)

Jean9
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Let the dough sit overnight. The granulated sugar will 'dissolve' in the dough and the cookies won't have that granulated texture.

Michael
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    If you do this, you need to use double-acting baking powder (where it gives off gas once when it gets wet, and a second time when it gets hot). – Joe Jan 01 '19 at 15:04