How do you like your cookies? Chewy? Maybe dense? Or even cakey? If you’ve been struggling to find a recipe that fits your cookie needs, your search may be over. Let’s take a little dive into the science behind what makes a cookie and figure out what you need to do to get the cookie you want.
For simplicity’s sake, let’s start with a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups chocolate chips
Chewiness & Density
The chewiness of a cookie boils down to one main thing: moisture content. To customize the chewiness and density of your cookie, you can play with the ratio of white sugar to brown sugar in the recipe. Right now, the sugars in our recipe have a ratio of 1:1. Since brown sugar has a higher moisture content than white sugar, more of it can make your cookie chewier. For example, instead of using 3/4 cup of each, you could try using a full cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white sugar for a chewier texture. If, like me, your goal is to make a cookie so dense it could be mistaken for a black hole, look into even more of the chemistry behind chewiness.
Cakey-ness
Cakey cookies are basically the opposite of chewy cookies. The cakey-ness of a cookie also relies mostly on moisture content, in the sense that adding more dry ingredients (ie. flour) will make your cookie drier and cakier. You could also add an egg, which will create more bonds between the starch and protein in the flour, making a more structured cookie.
Disclaimer: Cakey-ness is a texture that it seems most people want to avoid when making cookies, but don’t let other people’s judgements leave you feeling crummy. Express your right to enjoy your cookies the way you want. No rules. Only cookie.
I hope that this short dive into cookie chemistry has inspired you to go and create your perfect cookie. If you tried any of these methods, let me know how it went!
