Ah, the ubiquitous chocolate chip cookie. If you peered into the 92% of American households that regularly eat cookies, chances are that you have the beloved cookie flavor in your pantry.
Like most love stories, America fell in love with chocolate chip cookies by accident. It all started in the 1930s at the Tollhouse Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts. Ruth Wakefield, the innkeeper there, was responsible for making the daily batch of cookies for her guests. One day, she ran out of baking chocolate and instead broke up small pieces of chocolate morsels and incorporated them into her cookie recipe. Since then, America has had a torrid love affair with chocolate chip cookies. However, not all cookie flavors are created equal -- especially when it comes to the chocolate chip cookie. In fact, with just a small ingredient modification, your cookie flavors, textures, and taste will change tremendously. Check out these ingredients that can drastically affect your cookies: Sugar Using white sugar will result in a flatter, yet crispier cookie with a lighter color. If you use brown sugar, it will result in a denser and moister cookie. Brown sugar also slows down the development of flour, making a more tender cookie. Butter If you use melted butter when making chocolate chip cookies, the butter will end up dissolving the sugar, which will make the cookies tender and flat. If you cream together room-temperature butter with sugar, it will create air pockets, resulting in puffier cookies. Baking Soda Baking soda releases a carbon dioxide gas, helping the cookie dough to leaven. This renders a soft and fluffy cookie. Baking Powder Baking powder in your cookie will create a cookie that is soft and thick, but slightly harder. Chilled Dough By chilling your dough for 24 hours, you will have crisper, flatter cookies. How do you like your chocolate chip cookies? Let us know in the comments below!
