What Makes A Cookie Chewy?

Chocolate chip cookies are a delicious treat that doesn’t have to turn out crispy and hard. It’s a matter of using the right ingredients and the right temperature when baking. This is an easy chocolate chip cookies recipe that will give you chewy cookies every time. 

What Makes A Cookie Chewy?

There really are a bunch of ways to make chocolate chip cookies. Some people like them crunchy, and some like them chewy. It’s a matter of preference. 

I’ve been making chocolate chip cookies for as long as I can remember, but a lot of the time they come out too crunchy, flat, and hard, and I could never figure out why. So, I did a little digging.

There are certain ingredients that go into chocolate chip cookies. Some recipes vary, but for the most part, brown sugar, eggs, flour, baking soda, and vanilla are all staples in the recipe. 

But, did you know that varying those a little can make a big difference in how the cookies turn out? It’s all a matter of science. 

Changing some the following can make your cookie chewier:

• Brown sugar/sugar
• Egg whites
• Baking temperature
• Size of cookie
• Baking soda/Baking powder

Brown Sugar

Brown sugar is made by adding sugarcane molasses to white sugar crystals. Molasses attracts moisture, so that helps your cookies stay moist. 

• In this recipe, I changed the ratio of brown and white sugar. I used more brown sugar than white.

Egg whites

Egg whites tend to dry out cookies. When egg whites are added to a recipe, they will dry out when cooked, causing the cookie to spread more and dry out quicker.

According to The Pastry Chef Online, “The fat in yolks helps to shorten gluten and tenderize the final product.”

• In this recipe, I added two eggs (and removed the white out of one of them).

Baking temperature

This is a pretty easy one. When you bake cookies at a lower temperature, they have more of an opportunity to spread out. 

If you start your cookies at room temperature, they will spread out more while cooking, than if you cook them right out of the fridge. 

Have you ever noticed that the pre-made cookie dough you buy at the store doesn’t usually spread out too thin? Part of the reason is that it starts out cold and doesn’t have as much time to spread out when cooking. 

The center will have more moisture as a result. 

Size of the cookie

When you bake a cookie, if you start out with a small bit of dough, it’s going to spread out more and cook up crispier. 

If you scoop out a larger piece of dough, your cookies will not spread as much, allowing it to retain moisture in the middle. 

• I used a large cookie scoop for my recipe.

Baking Soda/Baking Powder

If you want your cookie to spread less, use baking powder. The powder is more acidic and will spread less, therefore, you’ll have a more moist cookie. 

• I added three teaspoons of powder to my cookie and removed the baking soda altogether.

Now that you know all of that, let’s get to baking simple chocolate chip cookies.

How to Make Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Mix the butter, brown sugar, sugar, vanilla, and eggs in another bowl. Add the flour to the mixture and stir. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop onto a cookie sheet and bake. Tips for the perfect cookies: Measure the dry ingredients with the proper measuring cups. There are different measuring cups for dry or wet ingredients. Use the flat side of a knife to scrape off the flour for a perfect measurement. Sifting the flour helps to combine it more evenly with the other ingredients such as baking powder and salt. The warmer the butter, the more the cookies will spread when cooking. If you don’t want your cookies to spread as much, keep the butter in the fridge until you are ready to use it. To keep the cookies moist longer, keep a piece of bread in the container with the cookies.

Complete recipe and printable instructions listed below. 

Add the flour to a flour sifter. 

It’s important to measure the flour out precisely. I am super guilty of just sticking my measuring cup in the flour canister and pulling out a scoop of flour without scraping off the top.

Doing that with a couple of scoops can actually add quite a bit of flour to your recipe. altering the way the cookie will turn out.

Be sure to use the flat side of the knife. If you use the curved side, you won’t be getting enough flour.

Add baking powder and salt to the recipe.

Baking powder usually has the coolest lid built into the container. You can stick your scoop inside and run it along the lid, creating the perfect measurement. And you don’t need the knife. 

Tap the sifter and sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into the bowl. Set the bowl aside.

When you sift the flour, it helps to combine the ingredients better. 

In another bowl, add the brown sugar, white sugar, and butter. Mix the ingredients together. 

This is kind of my favorite part of the cookie. Once you get the dough going, you know something good is coming down the pike. 

Seriously, who doesn’t love butter and sugar? 

Add one egg and mix together. 

Add the second egg (without the egg white) and mix together. 

Ohhhh, look, it’s already looking like dough. I am going to have to start watching for kids coming from the sides and wanting to get a spoonful. 

Add the flour to the mixture a little bit at a time. Mix until it is all incorporated.

These are the best chocolate chip cookies. Every time I smell a cookie baking in the oven, it brings me back to my childhood.

These are always good for lifting spirits, giving as gifts, and just popping in the oven when you want a treat. 

Fold in the chocolate chips. 

This is the best part of the entire recipe. Chocolate chips taste good in raw cookie dough and right out of the oven. Is there anything better than soft chewy chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven? Mmm…not much.

Scoop the cookies onto the cookie sheet. I used a large scoop and got about seven cookies on my baking sheet. 

I have a round stone baking sheet. I like to use stoneware because I think it bakes more evenly. 

Bake for about 11 minutes on 375-degrees, or until the edges are golden brown.

I usually let my cookies sit on the baking sheet for about five minutes after I pull them out of the oven. That way you’re not going to have a big blob of cookie–not that I wouldn’t eat it. I’d definitely still eat it. 

What Makes A Cookie Chewy?

• If you’re looking for more delicious recipes with chocolate chips, try some Easy Double Chocolate Chip Cookies. 
• If you’re looking for gluten-free cookies, try these Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Looking for more delicious recipes? Check out these other blogs:

Julia’s Simply Southern and The Country Cook