Organic Chemistry
Wit-Bit
In today’s post, I will be explaining how you can learn about Maillard reaction by baking some cookies!
For this experiment, you’ll need:
2 tbsp flour, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 and 1/2 tbsp water, and 1 tbsp oil.
In a bowl, mix the ingredients together. For each of the next steps, spoon out two ½ tbsps of batter onto a pan covered by foil.
First, bake the raw batter for 20 minutes at 212℉.
In this cookie, the water is boiled off and the batter turns solid, but it is still undercooked.
Next, bake some more raw batter for 15 minutes at 280℉. In this cookie, Maillard reaction occurs! The sugars and proteins are reacting, giving the cookie a nice golden brown color.
Finally, bake the raw batter for 15 minutes at 350℉. In this cookie, caramelization occurs! The sugars combine to give the deep caramel flavor and color.
By looking at all three cookies, you can see how the different temperatures caused different chemical reactions!
To learn more about organic chemistry, check out StemChef’s “Escape to Dartmouth” escape room! Help the Cat in the Hat escape while learning about Organic Chemistry! Check us out on TikTok and Instagram for more content, and check out our other blog posts posted on stemchef.com for more fun food based experiments!
- Roshnee Gulati