The Great Christmas Cookie Experiment

It’s the season for baking, but have you ever wondered what makes cakes and biscuits rise? It’s all about the raising agent. This activity uses a basic cookie recipe and different raising agents to find out which works the best.

It’s a delicious, fun, festive baking activity for the whole family!

You’ll need

Basic cookie recipe

225g unsalted butter at room temperature

110g caster sugar

275g plain flour/all-purpose flour

Chocolate chips – optional

Parchment paper

Baking sheet

Wooden spoon

Bowl

five balls of cookie dough, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda for a baking science experiment

Potential raising agents to test

Baking powder

Egg white

Baking soda/bicarbonate of soda

Lemonade

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180˚C.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl with the wooden spoon. Add the flour slowly until you have a smooth mixture.

Split the mixture evenly into four bowls.

Add a different raising agent to 3 of the mixtures and mix well.

The mixture without a raising agent is the control.

Add a handful of chocolate chips to each mixture.

Split the mixture into evenly sized-balls and spread them out on a baking sheet.

Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and compare each batch of cookies.

6 cookies on a plate as part of a festive baking science experiment
cookies baked with egg white and bicarbonate of soda for a raising agent science experiment

Remember to keep as many variables constant as you can.

Use the same amount of dough for each cookie.

Bake each batch for the same amount of time at the same temperature.

Use the same amount of each raising agent.

If you liked this post, you’ll love my Science Sparks Bake Off!

Last Updated on December 26, 2024 by Emma Vanstone

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