Truthfully, I leave the salt out of cookies much of the time, depending on the cookie, and can't tell the difference. I don't leave it out of bread, there isn't enough flavor there on its own.

If I'm using a leavening agent (which your cookie recipe above does not) things like baking powder and baking soda already have sodium, so I don't notice the flavor difference.

Truthfully, I think you have a rather bland cookie anyway, it's only sugar, butter, flour, eggs and some orange zest for seasoning. I'd have to bump up the orange flavor to be happy, probably, much like I doubled the lemon in the Lemon Brownies to get the lemon flavor I like.

Annie

My mother always left the salt out of cookies. She didn't like the flavor of salt in there with the sweet. She must have been sensitive to it.

I had kind of forgotten about that till now, although I think it's always in the back of my mind as I'm adding salt into cookie dough. When I was a kid, I just always left the salt out too because she said so. As an adult, I started adding it back in according to the recipe. But her cookies (and mine as a kid) always turned out just dandy without any salt.

My biscotti recipe only calls for a pinch of salt for 2 cups of flour and 1 of sugar. I'd add an 1/8 teaspoon but no more. If you are used to tasting salt you will notice the absence. If you eat a moderately restricted salt diet, you won't. There is a lot of orange zest for the amount of flour so I think you'll have a nice orange flavor.

My shortbread recipe has no salt.

Okay, I feel better now. Sables are close cousins to shortbread, so that probably explains it. I won't try to add salt to the sugar coating.

I never used to add salt to food while cooking, because I never liked salt that much. Then I was introduced to kosher salt and various other salts with much different flavors than the old Morton's Iodized salt, and found out that salt can actually taste good. Unfortunately now, I'm developing somewhat of a taste for salt. I still rarely add salt to my food at the table, while I see others shaking salt on their food like a snowstorm.

Sally

Sally, I too have developed a taste for salt..growing up my mom didn't use it very often..she also often omitted it from her baking, atleast cookie recipes..then I found the Celtic Real Sea Salt with all the minerals and such..I love that salt and anything that it comes in contact with just "tastes" so much better..

It's my cooking, baking and food salting salt..

My sis says she can taste the iodide in regular table salt. I don't think I'm that sensitive but I use plain sea salt in my baking and general cooking just in case someone can taste it. Mostly I use very little salt after cooking for a heart patient for a while.

When cookie recipes call for unsalted butter and adding salt, can you just use "salted" butter?
If not, why? Does it change anything one way or the other?

Thanks so much!
June Lynn

I don't like salt in sweet recipes - it's perfectly fine to leave it out. Once you get used to not having it in the recipes, the ones that do have salt will taste off. You don't put salt in coffee or tea - salt doesn't belong in everything. I hate chefs who always insist on putting salt in every recipe. I prefer a lot of vegetables without salt - I can taste them better without it.

I do agree with Annie that salt belongs in bread, however, as well as biscuits and flour tortillas.

Lars

I also wanted to mention the salted butter thing. If you're using salted butter, then added salt might seem too much, and if you're using unsalted butter, then missing salt may seem to cause the recipe to be bland.

I don't think that using salted butter necessarily equates the same in a recipe that specifically calls for unsalted butter and added salt. Quantities likely differ.

But I also agree that if you're going to add salt, I'd use unsalted butter and start with adding a 1/8th of a teaspoon of salt. If you're using salted butter, I wouldn't add any.

Salt in cookies is more of a taste preference thing than a requirement in the chemistry so go with your own instincts.

Just my two cents.
Susan

I never use salted butter, and this recipe called for unsalted butter. I guess it just wasn't supposed to have salt.

I don't have a problem with sweet and salt together. Some recipes, such as World Peace Cookies, call very specifically for Fleu de Sel, (or however it's spelled), to get that salty taste in with the chocolate flavor.

When I bake up these cookies, I'll give a report on how they turned out.

Sally

I use sea salt all the time and it seems to make a difference.

Salt, in most cookie recipes, is a flavor enhancer. The problem, not everyone likes a salty flavor, so it often becomes a personal preference in a recipe.

Salt also contributes to the baking science of baked goods, including cookies. It aids in firming the dough, and can improve the volume, texture, and evenness of the cell structure. As another plus, it prolongs shelf-life.

Baked goods without salt tend to be characterized as "bland" (when judging food). For people who typically don't use a lot of salt in their diets, they will have a preference to "bland"; much as those who love salty foods will prefer a salty flavor.

When you notice recipes that call for a "pinch of salt", a small amount of salt makes the sweet ingredient/s taste sweeter, and that's the reason for only a pinch.

-Grainlady

Well I made World Peace Cookies yesterday with my Celtic Sea Salt...YUMMM and used salted butter...because that's all I buy..

I always use the salt a recipe calls for and salted butter...I guess I've never fed a "bland" food taster...My goodies are quite popular...

Ooh, thanks for the baking science lesson, GrainLady! :)

It always helps to know an ingredients purpose in a dish when you start thinking about changing a recipe. Great information about salt adding firmness. Didn't know that one.

Susan

That is interesting, Grainlady. It does seem that in those cooking competition shows the judges have a taste for salt - but not too much salt. Usually they criticize for not enough salt.

I like sea salt, too. But there's even several different kinds of sea salt. Alton Brown did a show about salt once, talking about all the different kinds of salt. I'd like to see it again whenever they repeat it, because it was a very interesting show.

Terri, I'd be happy to eat your goodies any day, Hush, Jessy.

Sally

I promised I'd report back on these cookies, but then I forgot until now. They turned out very good, actually. I couldn't help myself, though. I did add just a tiny, tiny pinch of fluer de sel to the sugar mixture that I rolled the logs in, but I don't know if that made any difference or not. The combination of orange and almonds is very good. They're not flashy, but have good flavor. I'd make them again.

Sally

Sally, I'm glad they turned out well, I like shortbread so I'm sure I'd like them.

As for the preference for bland foods and salty foods, I love salt. When I was younger I ate it out of my palm, all by itself. I still seldom add it to cookies, though, I just don't see a big enough difference.

As for preservation, the sooner cookies are gone in my house, the better for me, LOL.

Annie

the sooner cookies are gone in my house, the better for me... Unless *I* was the one who made them be gone!! LOL

Kevin gave me some Girl Scout cookies yesterday that a co-worker of his gave him - Kevin didn't want them because they are oatmeal raisin, and he doesn't like raisins. I tried eating one of them and was very put off by the salty taste of it. I also have some shortbread cookies from TJ's, and they have no salt in them, and taste infinitely better. I hate salt in cookies - there is enough salty flavor from the baking soda. I only buy salted butter by accident, which I did last week-end, but I will use in only in savory dishes that require salt and will not use it for desserts or anything sweet. For me, salt ruins a lot of dishes and I consider it to be a flavor destroyer rather than enhancer when it comes to dishes that are sweet, and that includes vegetables that taste sweet. I understand that some people (such as Ina Garten) want everything to tasty salty, but for me salt makes a lot of dishes unpalatable. Ina puts salt in her shortbread cookies, which for me is a major no-no. I do not understand why some people think that salt belongs in every recipe. Perhaps they have a salt addiction.

Lars: I don't know if you watch many 'cooking shows', but all the cooks and chefs throw in way too much salt - in everything. One would think they own stock in the Salt Flats. I never have liked salt, so understand your avoidance of it.

Yes, I do watch quite a few cooking shows and agree that they throw in way too much salt. I have noticed that shows that originate on the East Coast use more salt than ones on the West Coast, however, and so perhaps it is somewhat regional.

If I wanted a salty cookie, I would eat a cracker, but I do not like crackers that are sweet if they are salty.

What I find particularly objectionable in cooking shows is the rational that salt is a "flavor enhancer" - that is not always the case - sometimes it merely makes something taste salty that is not meant to be salty. I find oversalting to be a very bad trend.

I actually like salt (prefer salty to sweet) and I'm alway amazed by how much they fling into everything on those shows.

Lars, I think you're onto something about regional differences. When chefs come out here from fancy posts in NY, etc., it takes them awhile to figure out that we want to eat vegetables, not "garnish", and don't like all that salt. Something I've noticed about chefs altogether, whether in restaurants or on TV, is that the younger ones, especially West Coast ones, aren't so salt happy, but the older ones, who've both grown used to all that salt and have started losing their ability to taste from age, demand it.

There's a certain kind of cookie I remember from my childhood which tasted of malt and salt. I recently had a different kind of cookie, more of a shortbread style, which also had malt and salt. I really like them. But they're not "normal" cookies, and I wouldn't want them to be the standard. I do use a little salt in most cookies, but not enough to make them taste salty! I like lamb chops to taste salty (none during cooking, just finishing salt), not sweets. :)