Cookie Science

This article was published on Facebook a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to publish it to Kitchen Moxy so I would always have it to refer to and because it explains why there are so many different types of chocolate chip cookies out there; soft, chewy, overcooked, undercooked (the best), hard, crisp etc. You would think everyone that makes chocolate chip cookies has a similar recipe to follow right? Wrong, I have a recipe that I have used for 40 years that my kids ask for when I am making Christmas cookies. It is soft, chewy and delicious, but it also has a box of instant vanilla pudding mix in it and baking soda, no baking powder. So here is the science behind the texture of the most delicious cookies. Experiment and decide which is your fav!

The Science Behind Baking the Most Delicious Cookie Ever
By Anne Miller

Here, relying on the experts’ help and based on the classic Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe:

• Ooey-gooey: Add 2 cups more flour.

• A nice tan: Set the oven higher than 350 degrees (maybe 360). Caramelization, which gives cookies their nice brown tops, occurs above 356 degrees, says the Ted video.

• Crispy with a soft center: Use 1/4 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda.

• Chewy: Substitute bread flour for all-purpose flour.

• Just like store-bought: Trade the butter for shortening. Arias notes that this ups the texture but reduces some flavor; her suggestion is to use half butter and half shortening.

• Thick (and less crispy): Freeze the batter for 30 to 60 minutes before baking. This solidifies the butter, which will spread less while baking.

• Cakey: Use more baking soda because, according to Nyberg, it “releases carbon dioxide when heated, which makes cookies puff up.”

• Butterscotch flavored: Use 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (instead of the same amount of combined granulated sugar and light brown sugar).

• Uniformity: If looks count, add one ounce corn syrup and one ounce granulated sugar.

More. Just, more: Chilling the dough for at least 24 hours before baking deepens all the flavors, Arias found.