Have you ever wondered why some chocolate chip cookies just taste better than others? You know the kind….you can inhale 3 in a heartbeat and still want more. Maybe your cookie was really chewy (seems to be the favorite among my taste testers) or thicker or thiner depending on your preferences. Maybe you liked the large chocolate chunks (who doesn’t?) or that your cookie was jammed with pecans instead of the traditional walnuts. Anyway, whatever your likes, or dislikes, the following are six techniques to keep in mind when making cookies.
1) Recipes made with a greater ratio of white sugar to brown sugar produce a crisper cookie because white sugar has less moisture than brown sugar, which contains molasses. You can adjust your recipe accordingly.
2) Using fresh brown sugar is essential. If you start with hard brown sugar, not only will the creaminess of the dough be affected but after baking, the cooled cookies will become dry and hard like the brown sugar you put in them.
3) If you like a thicker cookie, shape the dough in high mounds with a small ice cream scoop. Or chill the dough for 20 minutes before portioning and baking.
4) A softer chewier texture can be achieved by slightly underbaking the cookies. The edges should be slightly browned while the center is still pale.
5) Doughs made with more egg will result in cakey-textured cookies.
6) Remember to allow for “carry-over” baking. Cookie sheets retain heat after they are removed from the oven so cookies will continue to bake until they are removed from the pan.
We appreciate you comments and ideas. If you have any to add, please feel free to comment below.
I didn’t know that tailoring cookies for thickness was not that hard! (I have to admit I am in the chewy cookie camp!) I’ll remember to try brown sugar next time instead of white.
Thanks for the tips!!