How to Keep Your Chocolate Cookies Soft and Chewy

Have you ever ended up with hard chocolate chip cookies? You had to break off bites instead of sinking your teeth into them because they were too hard. Some cookies are meant to be crispy, even chocolate chip cookies, but there is a difference between crispy and hard. If you're going for soft cookies, use these tips to get the texture you want.

Use More Brown Sugar

Most, if not all, chocolate chip cookie recipes call for brown sugar. One way to make them more chewy is to increase the amount of brown sugar. Molasses makes the brown sugar brown, and it also makes cookies chewier. If your cookies end up too flat, consider reducing the amount of butter next time. This tends to happen when you increase the brown sugar.

Don't Beat the Dough

When you mix the sugar and butter together, you can beat it or mix it more vigorously. It should be creamed and fluffy. Once you add the eggs, it becomes really easy to add too much air to the dough. Too much air will make the cookies cakey. They won't be soft. Instead, they will just crumble when you bit into them. The best way to keep from over-mixing is to use a wooden spoon and mix it by hand. It's pretty easy to mix, anyway.

Keep the Pan Cool

When you use the cookie sheet, make sure it is completely cool. If you already used a sheet for a batch, let it cool completely before putting more dough on it. You will end up with crunchy, flat edges and uneven cooking. Also, don't forget to let the oven preheat completely before popping any cookies into it.

Watch the Baking

DO NOT over-bake the cookies. Stick to the time it says in the recipe. The cookies will be don't when they look set and are lightly golden brown around the edges. The center of the top should not be very browned. If your cookies are dark brown, they will end up being very hard. This is usually the biggest culprit of hard cookies. They won't look burnt because they won't be black, but they practically are burnt because you overcooked them. They probably won't taste as good either.

Now that you know how to keep your cookies from tasting hard and bad, whip up a batch. Use these techniques and you'll never make a bad batch of chocolate chip cookies again!