15 Ways To Bake Your Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie (See The Science Behind These!)

Every bag of chocolate chips comes with a recipe printed on the back, but following it might not always result in the exact cookie you've been craving. Luckily, there is no need to compromise! Here are 15 chocolate-chip-cookie tweaks guaranteed to get you exactly what you wanted.

For A Crisp, Tanned Bake

For a golden brown top, set the oven higher to 350-360 degrees Fahrenheit. Caramelization, the process that gives cookies their crisp brown tops, begins at or above around 350 degrees.

For A Crispy Cookie With A Soft Center

Use both baking powder (1/4 teaspoon) and baking soda (1/4 teaspoon) to achieve the perfect balance of crispy outside and an ooey gooey center.

For A Thick And Chewy Cookie

Craving a cookie with a consistent and thick chewy texture? Substitute bread flour for the all-purpose flour. The result will be a slightly crisp cookie with a deliciously chewy center.

For Just-Like-Store-Bought Cookies

You can never go wrong with the classic flavor and texture of store-bought cookies! Save money and an unnecessary trip to the store by trading butter for shortening.

For A Gooey Cookie

Add two cups of flour for a gooey soft center.

For Thick And Soft But Chewy Cookies

Freeze your batter for 30 to 60 minutes before baking to achieve a soft but chewy cookie. To save space and a mess, ice cube trays make for perfect dough dispensers.

For A Crackled, Crispy Top

Instead of room temperature butter, melt the butter beforehand and allow it to cool. Stir the butter and sugars together instead of creaming them together, and let the mixture sit for five minutes, or until the sugar is absorbed. This will result in crackled tops similar to brownies.

For An Ultra Soft Cookie

On top of the whole egg called for in most recipes, add an extra egg yolk for an ultra soft cookie with a little bit of chew. Egg yolks act as a rich and fatty tenderizer while also adding extra liquid to the dough, making for a flatter, more spread out cookie.

For A Fluffy, Cakey Cookie

Adding some extra baking soda causes carbon dioxide to be released during baking, which puffs the cookie up and produces a thick, cakey product.

For Deeper Flavor

Chilling your cookie dough for at least 24 hours before baking has been found to enhance the flavor of the finished product.

For A Chocolate Chip & Butterscotch-Flavor

Use all brown sugar (3/4 cup packed) instead of the traditional mixture of granulated white and brown sugar to introduce a rich, sticky sweet butterscotch taste to the mix.

For A Uniform Look

If you need your cookies to be as attractive as they are tasty, adding one ounce of corn syrup and one ounce of granulated sugar will make for a uniform texture and crumble with just-melted chocolate chips throughout.

For A Crunchier, Denser Cookie

Use a dark non-stick cookie sheet to significantly increase the browning and crispness of your final bake. As a bonus, your dough will set up quickly and form smaller, denser cookies as a result.

For A Cookie With No Processed Sugar

For a more healthy alternative to processed sugar, switch out the 3/4 cup of brown and granulated sugar for a 1/2 cup of pure, grade-A maple syrup. Before adding the other ingredients, beat the butter until creamy and then add the maple syrup and beat until combined. Due to the liquid content of the maple syrup, add an additional 1/4 cup of flour to the dough with the dry ingredients.

For A Delicious Flax Egg Cookie

Eggs are NOT required for a great-tasting cookie! The popular substitute, flax egg, will work to add  a grainy and moist body to your bake. To make, mix one tablespoon of ground flax meal mixed with three tablespoons of water, and incorporate as you would real eggs in the recipe.