Let’s be honest: Chocolate chip cookies are better when they’re chewy. If you want to bring your standard cookie recipe from basic to delish, you need just one pantry classic — cornstarch. For soft cookie fans, this ingredient is their saving grace. While you can still manage soft cookies without them, cornstarch pushes them right over the edge.
How? It breaks down the protein in your flour, making the cookie’s overall texture a lot more tender than it would’ve been otherwise. You can’t just add it right away, though. Thoroughly mix a teaspoon or so of cornstarch with an equal amount of cold water until you’ve created a cornstarch slurry. Then, stir it into your batter. If you don’t incorporate it this way, the oven’s heat can negate the cornstarch’s natural effects.
Cornstarch is also a known thickener, helping you make a thicker gravy without flour, for example. This helps when it comes to baking soft cookies, too. Brian Hart Hoffman, founder of “Bake from Scratch” magazine, told Southern Living, “A bonus benefit is it [cornstarch] prevents the cookie from spreading too much while baking.” When cookies are spread too thin, they’re more likely to get crispy rather than chewy.
Which ingredients can you substitute for cornstarch?
Maybe you’ve run out of cornstarch. Maybe you just never used it often to begin with. Whatever the case, your chocolate chip cookies aren’t a lost cause. Other ingredients can still ensure those soft, chewy cookies you’ve been craving. Potato starch and arrowroot powder can work as great alternatives, and are both popular ingredients in gluten-free desserts. Even if you don’t have those on hand, you can still level up your chocolate chip cookies’ softness with the ingredients you’ve already been using. One trick is to include more brown sugar than white sugar (or just ditch the white sugar altogether).
Another tip for extra chewy chocolate chip cookies is to add a little milk powder. This will add a boost of dense milk fat to your cookies, adding a unique depth of flavor even your grandma will envy. If all else fails, throw in an extra egg yolk. It’ll bind the dough more thoroughly, making for an ultra-tender chocolate chip cookie.
