For thick and chewy cookies, try choosing all-purpose flour over cake flour. All-purpose flour has a higher protein content, resulting in a sturdier structure and chewier texture. Be sure not to overmix the dough to avoid activating too much gluten, which could lead to a tougher cookie.
The best and quickest way I have found to make fluffier cookies is to use butter right out of the fridge. It takes a little more work to cream together with sugar, but I always find it to be worth it. Chilling the dough would likely have the same outcome, but I never chill my dough.
Honey or corn syrup - it's the secret ingredient! Honey is a moisture trap so it will keep the cookies soft and chewy for days. You need any type of liquid/runny honey. Use a light-tasting and light-colored honey (not amber honey) so that it doesn't overpower the flavor.
Flat cookies usually indicate a high ratio of fat and/or sugar to flour. Both fats and sugars melt during baking, allowing the cookies to spread out and flatten. You can try either of two courses. One, slightly reduce the fat and sugar amounts. Two, slightly increase the flour amount.
flour power
The type of flour you use can significantly impact your cookie's thickness. For thick and chewy cookies, try choosing all-purpose flour over cake flour. All-purpose flour has a higher protein content, resulting in a sturdier structure and chewier texture.
What Does Cream of Tartar Do in Cookies? Cream of tartar makes cookies chewy, as it precludes the sugar in the dough from crystalizing, which would lead to crispiness (ie: the opposite of chewiness).
Over-creaming butter and sugar
“The number one reason cookies turn out flat is over-creaming the butter and sugar,” Xander says. The creaming process is a key step in many cookie recipes to incorporate air, which is crucial for the cookie's structure.
A good cookie scoop can make quick work of portioning a large batch of dough and can ensure that every cookie is the same size and shape. This is nice not just for serving up professional-looking results but also for ensuring that everything bakes at the same rate.
Corn Syrup (Light)
Light corn syrup is sometimes used in specialist cakes and confectioneries to help keep baked products soft and doughy for longer.
The science is simple: According to the flour authorities over at Bob's Red Mill, cornstarch can help “soften the rigid proteins of the flour, resulting in a light and chewy dessert.” “The cornstarch complements the flour in absorbing the liquids, but won't develop gluten structure like the flour will,” stresses ...
The easiest way to "turn down the volume" on spread in a cookie dough is to decrease the amount of sugar relative to the flour, as sugar is one of the primary factors governing spread in a cookie dough. With that change alone, most drop cookies will spread less as they bake, keeping the finished product nice and thick.
Refrigerating the dough allows the flour to fully hydrate and helps to make the cookie dough firmer. Firm dough prevents the cookies from spreading too much, which is why chilling the dough is a crucial step for cut-out and rolled cookies.
Baking soda has a shelf-life of 18 months, but it's not quite as cut and dry as reading the expiration date. Technically, eating expired baking soda won't hurt you, so you don't have to worry about falling ill from a cake gone wrong. However, if baking soda has gone bad, it won't work very well.
You may notice visible pockets of flour, streaks of butter, or uneven coloration. When overmixed, though, cookie dough will feel dense, greasy, heavy, and warm. It may be tough to roll out or work with, just like overmixed pie dough.
What does cornstarch do in cookies? Like in this case, when the amount of cornstarch is higher than the flour, the texture of the cookies will get more crumbly, favoring that melt-in-the-mouth texture that we all love.
Cream of tartar is acidic and tangy, with a slight citrus flavor. Its flavor is similar to lemon juice or vinegar in a recipe. What happens if you add too much cream of tartar? If you use too much, the final dish may have a metallic taste.