This Easy Cookie Recipe Makes The Best Soft & Chewy Oatmeal Cookies! (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to making cookies soft and chewy? ›

Cornstarch helps product soft and thick cookies. Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie. An extra egg yolk increases chewiness. Rolling the cookie dough balls to be tall and lumpy instead of wide and smooth gives the cookies a bakery-style textured thickness.

The ingredients you use and how you shape your cookies both play an important role in whether your cookies turn out crispy or chewy. The type of flour and sugar you use, if your cookie dough contains eggs, and whether you use melted or softened butter all factor into the crispy-chewy equation, too.

The bread/apple trick

Here's a baker's trick you'll find in our new Monster Cookies recipe: Adding a piece of fresh white bread to the storage container will keep cookies from becoming hard or stale.

If you enjoy your cookies soft and chewy, chances are likely the recipe contains a common ingredient that serves a very specific purpose. No, it's not granulated sugar, nor the butter. It's not the egg, all-purpose flour, or even the vanilla extract. The simple, yet oh-so-necessary component is cornstarch.

What ingredients make for a chewy rather than a crunchy cookie? - Quora. Eggs, brown sugar and a fat mix of 50/50 butter and shortening are some of the ingredients that will help make a cookie chewier. Also, fluff the flour with a whisk before measuring it — too much flour will make a cookie dry.

Different types of sugars affect the texture because they absorb different amounts of water. Remember moisture is the key! White sugar creates crispier cookies and brown sugar creates chewier cookies.

Chilling the dough also improves the way your cookies taste. "In terms of flavor, you'll notice more depth of flavor from the vanilla and the sugar will taste sweeter," says Haught Brown. "In terms of texture, chilled cookie dough produces a more evenly golden-brown cookie with a crisper edge and chewier center."

Also adding 1/2c more oats to recipe will be chewier if they aren't over Baked/dry. Cornstarch is a good trick to help make cookies more soft and chewy. It helps to bind and hold the moisture after baking. Increased sugar will also make them more tender.

Be sure to use baking soda in the cookies (not baking powder). Don't forget to chill the cookie dough. This ensures a puffy soft and chewy cookie! I prefer baking cookies on silicone baking mats (Silpats) but you can also use parchment paper.

What flour is best for chewy cookies? ›

If you're looking for chewiness and bend, bread flour could be a handy addition to your cookie recipes. Fun fact: Alton Brown even named his signature bread flour Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe “The Chewy." Baker's tip: Looking for another way to add a little extra chew? Use brown sugar in your cookie dough.

Baking soda is typically used for chewy cookies, while baking powder is generally used for light and airy cookies. Since baking powder is comprised of a number of ingredients (baking soda, cream of tartar, cornstarch, etc.), using it instead of pure baking soda will affect the taste of your cookies.

Brown sugar, meanwhile, is dense and compacts easily, creating fewer air pockets during creaming—that means that there's less opportunity to entrap gas, creating cookies that rise less and spread more. With less moisture escaping via steam, they also stay moist and chewy.

Butter contributes milk solids and water to a cookie, both of which soften it. Brown sugar contributes molasses – again, a softener. Using lower-moisture sugar (granulated) and fat (vegetable shortening), plus a longer, slower bake than normal, produces light, crunchy cookies.