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Sugar Cookie Conundrum
Dear Bewildered Baker,
Sorry it took so long to respond. Your question through me for a loop, but I hope this might help somewhat in figuring out why your cookies turned out the way they did.
My only experience with food that puffs up and becomes hollow is with making pita bread. The plan behind pitas is to get steam to puff up the inside of the bread before it bakes. To achieve this, pitas are made without fat in the dough or on the baking sheet. Then they are baked at very high temperatures (oven is completely heated before placing pitas in it) and near the bottom of the oven. Thin baking sheets help to achieve the hollow center better than thick ones because thin ones help transfer heat faster to the dough to produce steam.
Unsure of your procedure, consider whether your cookies were placed in a very warm oven, on a thin baking sheet, or near the bottom of the oven floor. Possibly, steam formed and puffed the cookies up quickly, creating a hollow center, instead of the usual slow-rising and baking that usually occurs. Was any extra moisture present that would create steam either in the oven or in the dough? What was the humidity level that day?
Additionally, if you were trying a new recipe, then maybe you snatched up one similar to the following recipe for "sugar snaps." These cookies have a hollow center in them once baked, too.
Hope this helps,
Desi @ DVO
Sugar Snaps
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups white sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and sugar. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.
3. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Roll dough into walnut size-balls and place 2 inches apart onto an unprepared cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool on wire racks.
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