Two questions about gluten and texture:
1) It was my understanding that more developed gluten = more chewiness. However, in
this excellent Serious Eats Food Lab article, Kenji says that "less kneading = craggier cookies and better texture." It's the better texture bit that surprises me. If we might intentionally replace AP flour with bread flour to get a chewier cookie, why would developing more gluten harm the texture? In particular, I thought that more developed gluten (either more developed or more there to start with) means the starch and protein network is stretchier and can thus better accommodate large air/steam bubbles, and this stretchiness also contributes to chew. Not so?
2) What is the difference between starting with a lower protein flour and kneading to develop lots of gluten, and starting with a higher protein flour and trying to agitate the dough as minimally as possible?
Thanks,
Evan
