How do I make cookies chewy instead of crisp?

Cookie texture is controlled by a few specific variables rather than by the recipe as a whole. Brown sugar holds moisture and gives chew; white sugar spreads and crisps. Knowing which lever to pull makes any recipe adjustable.

What you'll need

• Baking parchment
• Digital scales (optional)
• Brown sugar (optional)

Step by step

1. Use more brown sugar for chew.Brown sugar contains molasses, which is hygroscopic and holds moisture. Swapping some white sugar for brown is the single most effective change.
2. Use more white sugar for crispness.It melts and spreads, giving thinner, crisper cookies. The ratio between the two sugars is the main texture control.
3. Take chewy cookies out while the centres look underdone.They set on the tray from residual heat. Baking until they look done in the oven gives crisp cookies every time.
4. Chill the dough for chewier, thicker cookies.Thirty minutes or more. Cold dough spreads less, so the cookie stays thick, and thick cookies stay chewy in the middle.
5. Add an extra egg yolk for chew.Yolk adds fat and emulsifiers without the drying effect of extra white. Extra white makes cookies cakey and dry.
6. Use melted butter for chew, creamed butter for cake-like.Melted butter gives a denser chewier crumb; creaming incorporates air and gives a lighter, more cake-like texture.
7. Bake at a slightly higher temperature for chew.A hotter oven sets the edges before the centre dries out. A cooler oven for longer produces crisp throughout.
8. Store them correctly.Chewy cookies in an airtight tin, with a slice of bread if they start hardening. Crisp cookies airtight and separately, or they absorb moisture and soften.

Tips

• Bread flour instead of plain flour gives a chewier cookie, because the extra protein produces more structure.
• Underbaking slightly and letting them set on the hot tray is the difference between a bakery cookie and a biscuit.
• Adding a small amount of cornflour to the dry ingredients gives a softer, more tender centre.

Common mistakes

• Baking until they look done — They continue cooking on the hot tray. Cookies that look finished in the oven are crisp by the time they are cool.
• Using only white sugar and expecting chew — White sugar spreads and crisps. Brown sugar's molasses is what holds moisture and produces chewiness.
• Cooling them on the tray when you want crispness — Residual heat and trapped steam soften the base. Move crisp cookies to a rack straight away.

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