Weighty Responsibilities

I think I have mentioned before that I am not much of a baker. Where cooking is more gut instinct and spontaneity, baking is about precision. Basically a subdivision of chemistry, baking requires exact measurements and procedures and because of these exacting requirements I have taken to weighing most of my baking ingredients.
  Why weigh? It has to do with dry granule shape and size.  A cup of sifted flour weights less than a cup of unsifted flour because the sifted flour has more air in it and therefore less flour. This inconsistently can screw your baking royally. Another example is salt, salt is salt right? Not exactly, if you compare the weight of a cup of table salt with kosher salt, the table salt weights more because its grains sit tighter together than the flakes of the kosher salt. If you weigh pickling salt it will weigh even more since its grain size is smaller. Smaller grain size means less air and less air means more salt and more salt means more weight.
  If I can manage it I try to use recipes that are based on weight rather than volume. A digital scale is not a huge investment if you like baking ($20 at Wal-Mart) and most can weight in ounces and grams, allowing you to use metric and standard recipes. They also have a tare or re-zero function, allowing you to reset the zero of the scale. Why is this important? It allows you avoid doing any math while measuring ingredients and we all know that math is the (square) root of all evil.
  First put your mixing bowl on the scale and hit the tare; the display now reads 0.00.  Add the first measurement then hit the tare button again. This keeps you from trying to remember 8 ounces of butter added to 12 ounces of flour is 20 ounces, 22 after adding 2 ounces of sugar and so on.
  To help illustrate the concept I have included my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe - altered to use weight measurements. To give credit where credit is due, the recipe is from Alton Brown's Cooking show 'Good Eats.' Which is why it is kind of, well, Wierd. The only alteration I have made is to add chopped walnuts because that simply makes a superior chocolate chip cookie.

Chocolate Chip Cookies - By Weight
  8 ounces unsalted butter
  12 ounces bread flour
  1 teaspoon kosher salt
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  2 ounces granulated sugar
  8 ounces light brown sugar
  1 large egg
  1 large egg yolk
  1 ounce whole milk
  1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
  12 ounces chopped walnuts

Melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan over low heat. Set aside to cool slightly.
  Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda onto a paper plate. Pour the butter into your stand mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 2 minutes.
  Meanwhile, whisk together the whole egg, the egg yolk, milk and vanilla extract in a measuring cup. Reduce the mixer speed and slowly add the egg mixture. Mix until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.
  Using the paper plate as a slide, gradually integrate the dry ingredients, stopping a couple of times to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Once the flour is worked in, drop the speed to "stir" and add the chocolate chips and walnuts. Chill the dough for 1 hour.
  Preheat the oven to 375° and place racks in the top third and bottom third of the oven.
  Scoop the dough into 1 1/2-ounce portions onto parchment-lined half sheet pans, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake 2 sheets at a time for 15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Remove from the oven, slide the parchment with the cookies onto a cooling rack and wait at least 5 minutes before consuming.