How Does Butter Affect Cookie Width? By: Bailey Murphy

How Does Butter Affect Cookie Width? By: Bailey Murphy

2 Table of Contents Abstract... 3 Experimental Design... 4 Materials... 5 Procedures... 6 Data... 7 Photographs... 8 Analysis of Results... 9 Conclusion... 10 Bibliography... 11

3 Abstract The purpose of this experiment was to see if the amount of butter used in a cookie recipe would affect the width of a cookie. The methods used for this experiment were to keep it as controlled as possible. For example, the cookies were cooked in the same pan, with the same cookie mix, at the same temperature, in the same oven, and the size of the cookies were all the same. The only thing that changed was the amount of butter used in each batch. The results of this experiment were that the increase in butter led to an increase in width of the cookies. The largest cookies in width were the cookies with 12 tablespoons of butter, which averaged in a size of 7.24 centimeters. The smallest cookies were the cookies with 8 tablespoons of butter, which averaged in a size of 4.75 centimeters. The hypothesis was supported through this experiment. The increased amount of butter throughout the 3 groups led to an increase in width of the cookies. The cookies with 8 tablespoons averaged at 4.75 centimeters in width, the cookies with 10 tablespoons of butter averages at 5.73 centimeters in width, and the cookies with 12 tablespoons of butter had an average width of 7.24.

4 Experimental Design Question: Does the amount of butter used in the batter affect the width of the cookies? Hypothesis: If the amount of butter increases, so will the width of the cookie because butter causes the batter to expand. Variables: Independent Variable: the amount of butter Dependent Variable: the width of the cookie Constants: the brand of the cookie mix, the amount of batter used, the temperature of the oven at which it s baked, the time the cookies are in the oven, the pan, the position of the pan in the oven, the placement of the cookies on the pan. Control Group: regular amount of butter (8 tbsp)

5 Materials 2 boxes of Great Value Sugar Cookie cookie mix (2 batches) 1 one tablespoons scoop 1 egg per batch (3 eggs total) 4 sticks of unsalted butter (total of 30 tbsp) 1 large mixing bowl 1 mixing spoon 1 non-stick oven pan 1 oven

6 Procedures 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit 2. Pour 1 bag of cookie mix into mixing bowl 3. Add 1 egg 4. Stir 5. And 8 tbsp of room temperature butter and stir until completely mixed together 6. Take the 1 tbsp scoop and scoop cookie mix 7. Repeat step 6 until all mixture had been used (approximately 36 cookies) 8. Place cookies 2 inches apart on the non-stick oven pan 9. Once oven is done preheating, place pan on top rack of oven 10. Bake for 8 minutes 11. Let cool for 1 minute 12. Measure each cookie s diameter in centimeters 13. Place on serving platter 14. Trail 2: Repeat steps 2-13 except for step 5, which requires 10 tbsp of butter 15. Trial 3: Repeat steps 2-13 except for step 5, which requires 12 tbsp of butter

7 Data 8 tbsp Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 5.2 cm 5.1 cm 5 cm 4.9 cm 4.9 cm 4.85 cm 5.4 cm 4.9 cm 4.95 cm 4.5 cm 5.35 cm 4.8 cm 4.7 cm 4.95 cm 4.7 cm Average 4.94 cm 5.04 cm 4.86 cm Measured at 6:44pm on December 2, 2017 12 tbsp Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 6.9 cm 7.2 cm 7.3 cm 7.9 cm 7.5 cm 7 cm 7.5 cm 7.4 cm 7.65 cm 6.5cm 6.6 cm 7.2 cm 7.8 cm 7.5 cm 6.65 cm Average 7.32 cm 7.24 cm 7.16cm Measured at 7:10 pm on December 2, 2017 10 tbsp Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 5.1 cm 5.95 cm 5.9 cm 6 cm 6.1 cm 5.4 cm 5.45 cm 6.3 cm 5.9 cm 5.55 cm 5.3 cm 5.8 cm 5.75 cm 5.15 6.25 cm Average 5.75 cm 5.76 cm 5.85 cm Measured at 7:00pm on December 2, 2017 amount of butter (tbsp) width of cookie (cm) (averaged) trial 1 trial 2 trial 3 8 tbsp 4.94 cm 5.04 cm 4.86 cm 10 tbsp 5.57 cm 5.76 cm 5.85 cm 12 tbsp 7.32 cm 7.24 cm 7.16 cm

8 Photographs 7:30pm December 2, 2017/ taken by me, Bailey Murphy. The final product 6:00pm December 2, 2017/ taken by Brigette Murphy. Before the experiment, with ingredients. 6:05 December 2, 2017/ taken by 6:40pm December 2, 2017/ taken by Brigette my mom, Brigette Murphy. Making first batch. Murphy. Taking out first batch second batch. 6:45pm December 2, 2017/taken by Brigette Murphy. Placing

width of cookies 9 Analysis of Results After reviewing the data collected, it is clear that butter increased the width of cookies. The expansion of the cookies is evident based on the fact that when butter melts, it turns into a liquid, which caused the cookies to expand. The cookies ranged in size. The cookies baked with the recommended 8 tablespoons of butter had a mean of 4.75cm. The median of the data was 4.9cm. The width that appeared most throughout the data (mode) was 4.9cm. The cookies baked with 10 tablespoons of butter had a mean of 5.73cm. The median of this data set was 5.8cm, which is almost a whole centimeter longer than the first batch. The mode of this data set was 5.9cm. The last set of cookies was baked with 12 tablespoons of butter. The mean of that data set was 7.24cm, which is a huge increase from the last two batches. The median of the data was 7.3cm. The mode of the data was 7.5cm. In the overall data the mean was 5.97cm. The median was 5.8. There were two modes of the total data set, which were 4.9 and 7.5. Chart Title 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 butter(tbsp) 8 10 12 trial 1 4.94 5.57 7.32 trial 2 5.04 5.76 7.24 trial 3 4.86 5.85 7.16 amount of butter trial 1 trial 2 trial 3

10 Conclusion The purpose of this experiment was to determine if butter affects the consistency and size of cookies. In the experiment, the cookies with more butter were thinner and wider whereas the cookies with the recommended amount of butter were fluffy and dense. The hypothesis was confirmed through the fact that the more butter that was used, the wider the cookie expanded. Butter has a low melting point, causing it to spread during baking. The amount of butter you put in the mix directly impacts the consistency of the baked cookies. The more butter added to the batter will cause the cookies to become thinner and crisper. The experiment was performed 3 times, each using variable amounts of butter of 8 tablespoons, 10 tablespoons and 12 tablespoons supporting the hypothesis. For further study, try this experiment using variables of less than the recommended and more than recommended amounts of butter varying more than 2 tablespoons.

11 Bibliography Buttery Chocolate Chip Cookies. BettyCrocker.com, www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/buttery-chocolate-chip-cookies/ff0a3092-58bd- 49ab-a1fa-6c7ec0bd13fa. Ridge, Diane. "Smart cookie: tips for baking the best cookies." Food Management, Sept. 2007, p. 60+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=gps&sw=w&u=tjshs&v=2.1&id=gale%7ca1694 10890&it=r&asid=18b1de91091fa3f5f4337f8b33f705e7. Accessed 4 Oct. 2017. Waters, Janet. "Baking." World Book Student, World Book, 2017, worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar042740. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.