The Great Chocolate Chip Cookie [Non] Debate

Finding the “best” chocolate chip recipe out there is quite a bit like finding a needle in the haystack. In fact, I don’t think I will even bother looking for it. I don’t think there’s one best recipe anyway, because it’s a subjective matter: To some people the best would be a chewy cookie, to some a crunchy cookie. But as far as the cookie is concerned, it would just sit there happily speckled with chocolate chunks all over. However, I don’t think people would argue that there are only a handful of recipes out there that really stand out from the rest, chewy or crispy alike.

This post is not about trying to determine which type of cookie has the edge over the other. It’s not about me trying to convert you into liking just one type of cookie. It’s not about trying to champion one kind of cookie and discrediting the other. Plain and simply, this post is all about indulging the inner food scientist in me. It’s about attempting to study just what actually makes a crunchy cookie crunchy and a chewy cookie chewy. It’s about trying to discover and understand the differences between the DNA of each cookie better.

Don’t worry, I won’t go all mad scientist on you. I promise.

Personally, my preference for chocolate chip cookies lies heavily on my mood. Although I tend to go for the chewy ones more often, I also like to bite into the crunchier kind every so often. It’s not difficult to have the best of both worlds either– as in a crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside cookies. Yum! Probably the only kind of chocolate chip cookies I don’t like is the thick crumbly kind (READ: Store-bought), but I very rarely buy those anyway.

There just is no point in buying choco chip cookies from the store when making them at home is so easy! I would go so far as saying that if there’s one thing every person needs to know how to bake, it’s chocolate chip cookies. It’s the classic of all classics! The challenging part is picking out your favourite recipe, but whoever said you can’t bake them all?

Now let’s get down to the business at hand. I’ve made this little diagram of the cookie-making process. See if you can spot the difference:

If you would notice, there is more brown sugar involved in the process that creates chewy cookies compared to the crisp ones. Because brown sugar absorbs more moisture after baking, greater amounts of it help in creating a softer, chewier cookie texture. Switching the white to brown sugar ratios will immediately change the texture of your cookies. You can easily convert the recipe of your favourite chewy cookies into crisp cookies by increasing the amount of white sugar in relation to the amount of the brown sugar. More white sugar makes a crunchier cookie. A little more butter also helps in creating chewy cookies, thus the dough balls for my chewy cookies look slightly oilier than its opposite photo.

Who knew it was sugar that would create such an impact right? It’s also involved in my favourite part of making chocolate chip cookies, which is mixing the butter and sugar to get the “caramel” component. So pretty!

To make life a little easier for you, here is the Baking Illustrated Thin & Crispy counterpart. Just by looking at the source, needless to say both recipes produce excellent chocolate chip cookies. You can close your eyes and randomly pick out a recipe and I really believe it will be a hit no matter which one you end up making. Or better yet, make half a recipe of both! That’s what I did.

Admittedly, the recipe for this supposed crispy cookie isn’t like most recipes. There is the presence of milk which adds a little bit of moisture into the cookie; and instead of egg whites that would have helped dry them out for a firmer texture, they used egg yolks instead. This is probably why the cookies weren’t particularly crispy, and even became very chewy in the centre after a day or two in the cookie jar. Still, they were a wee bit firmer around the edges compared to the other version, which makes them a wonder to nibble on because of the contrast from outer to inner cookie.

I hope you don’t mistake that as complaining, because this jar went empty faster than the other. I solicited the votes of everyone in the house, and after much difficulty and indecision, I got the results. Apparently there were only two of us who liked the Thick and Chewy version better (my baby brother and I).

The only problem I have with repeating the Thin & Crispy recipe is that I don’t normally go for corn syrup in my baked goods unless it is absolutely essential, like as a binding agent for this Chocolate Pecan Pie. And even here I have doubts whether I would make this scrumptious pie again. Corn syrup just gives me the heebie-jeebies, along with shortening. But oh well, every once in a while won’t hurt I guess.

Seriously though, these are gorgeous cookies!

My cookie jar is just adorable isn’t it? I always make it a point to bake a different kind of cookie every week just so I can fill the jar up and keep it atop the kitchen table. I’m certain Mr. Moo was very happy to have had these cookies grace his cookie bowl too!