Soft Chocolate chip cookie recipe? Anyone?

[politicat]

What am I doing wrong that my chocolate chip cookies always come out hard and thin? I know some people make them and they come out thick and soft, and that's what we want....

My recipe is the basic Fannie Farmer recipe - butter, eggs, brown sugar, baking soda.

What gives?

Pcat

[thedailyshow]

1. the problem is that you're not talking nice enough to your cookie dough

:evilgrin:

[Frogtutor]

2. The best chocolate chip cookie recipe I ever tried...

is the one on the can of Butter Flavor Crisco (I think it comes in sticks, too). I like to use milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet--just a personal preference. I haven't made them in a long time, but they always seemed to come out "fluffier" and stay soft longer than the regular Toll House recipe.

Frogtutor

[The empressof all]

4. I'm a butter believer

Except for this chocolate chip recipe. It's the only reason i buy Crisco--It's an exceptional cookie

[MI Cherie]

3. Thick, soft, chewy cookies ...

... add extra flour and/or a box of instant pudding.

I made the basic chocolate chip cookie the other day. The batter was very moist, almost like muffin batter. A teaspoonful on the cookie sheet really spread out while baking. Very thin and chewy.

I used the same recipe the other night, except added almost an extra cup of flour, to get the consistency I prefer in cookies. The same size teaspoonful puffed up and barely spread out! It was very thick and soft.

I bake them at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. I've discovered that cookies get too crunchy or burn at 375° or above.

I also have (somewhere!) a recipe with cream cheese that ALWAYS comes out soft and chewy.

[Blue Gardener]

5. Make sure you store them in Tupperware

Or something similar. Otherwise they turn hard and crunchy.

[Beaverhausen]

6. Alton Brown did a show about this- 3 different kinds of cookies

the thin, the puffy and the chewy

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ea/episode/0,1976,FOOD_9956_17114,00.html

I think using more butter makes them thinner.

[Hans Delbrook]

19. I can vouch for AB's Chewy cookies!

It's worth the trouble to use the bread flour. I made these cookies for my summer party and people were eating them by the handfuls! I'm a noted cookie baker (if I do say so myself :-)) and people were still blown away by how good these were. The only change I made was to use three kinds of chips (semi-sweet, milk and white chocolate) and to add 1.5X as many chips as the recipe called for.

[Kadie]

7. Check your oven temp.

I tested my oven and it was baking on the hot side. I like to take the temp down about 25 degrees from the recipe for my cookies. I also cook them the minimal amount of time.

As suggested above, the butter crisco works great too.

[imenja]

8. 2 suggestions

Use 1/2 Crisco or margarine and half butter. If you use all Crisco, your cookies won't have enough flavor. Butter gives flavor, the other a softer texture. Also, I read somewhere that the butter shouldn't be too soft. If you leave it out too long, the cookies will be flat and harder.
Is it possible you are using too much flour? I find that the density of flour differs with the brand and with the weather. That's why European recipes use weight rather than cup measurements. You might try cutting back a bit on the flour.

[DemExpat]

9. I thought that cooking time influenced consistency.

Bake longer for harder cookies, shorter, "just done" baking time for soft, chewy ones. Where you take them out of the oven thinking they might still be a little undercooked.....

This is what my baking pro girlfriend told me....
:shrug:

DemEx

[Baja Margie]

10. Give these a try: They are sooooo good !

NEIMAN'S $250.00 COOKIE RECIPE


2 cups Butter
2 cups Brown Sugar
2 Tsp. Vanilla
5 cups Oatmeal Blended
2 Tsp. Baking Powder
24 Oz. Chocolate Chips
2 Cups Granulated sugar
4 Eggs
4 Cups Flour
1 Tsp. Salt
2 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 - 7 Oz. Grated Hershey Bar
2 cups chopped walnuts

For Blended Oatmeal: Measure first and then Blend in a blender to a fine powder.

Cream butter and both sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix together with dry ingrediants. Add chocolate chips,nuts and grated Hershey bar. Roll into balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake 6 to 10 minutes at 375 degrees. This will make 112 cookies.

*****************************************************************

I make the balls a little bigger, so I get less than 112. also, if you're going to make these, make sure you have a strong mixer, especially if you double it. they always turn out perfect, and make great Christmas gifts, too.

P.S. These never turn out thin, always are chewy and oh my god are they good.

[imenja]

11. Did your cookies turn out?

I'm curious as to whether any of these suggestions helped you make better cookies.

[Eurobabe]

12. try magarine, like Land o Lakes

I use butter, which makes thin crisp cookies, have made this in a pinch using margarine or part butter and crisco -- seems to make a fluffier cookie.

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. Extra flour, as others suggested; and replace some of the sugar with honey

My chocolate chip cookies are to die for. They stay soft and chewy for days and days, puff up nicely, and, well, they're just damned good.

Used to make them at summer camp. Total hit with everyone. :-)

I discovered the Rabrrrrrr secret chocolate chip cookie recipe one day by accident when I was making them, but didn't have any brown sugar. I had to improvise, and BAM! came up with the perfect solution.

If there's one thing I hate, it's a crunch chocolate chip cookie.

[franmarz]

14. To make a soft choc late cookie or any other-

I find that any cookie you make can be soft if you just take it out of the oven a few minutes LESS than the recipe calls for. I have baked on gas-which I love- and now on electric, and it works the same both ways. I make choc chips and take them out when they seem still doughy in the middle, but let them sit out for about 5 minutes, and they turn soft.

[fortyfeetunder]

15. Oat Flour

This is one of those "special" ingredients in Mrs. Field's cookies.

You can make a substitute by finely processing oatmeal, but make the extra effort to buy some oat flour, available at health food stores.

I substitute 1/2 cup of oat flour and I also use whole wheat pastry flour in my cookies. Since my family is allergic to nuts, this has a nutty and soft flavor on its own.

[roguevalley]

16. don't use butter. whenever I use it, they get hard. use shortening.

it is the only thing that makes and keeps them soft.

[baby_bear]

17. use only butter but also use this tip for good texture

Turn your cookie pan upside down, place a layer of waxed paper on it the size (approximately) of the upturned pan, and spoon your cookie dough on that. Remove the cookies from the pan about a minute after removing them from the oven, toss the waxed paper, and let the pan cool. Rotate your cookies through two or three pans and you will be done in no time.

Don't use margarine or Crisco - they are full of carcinogenic and cholesterol-raising trans fatty acids. Use butter. And unless allergies are a problem, add nuts. Walnuts, for sure, but a combination of nuts such as macadamias or almonds are also good, chopped fairly fine. They add a lot of nutrition, flavor, and mouthfeel to your wonderful cookies!

Your cookies will be wonderful and your heart will thank you!

bb

[Dora]

20. Palm Oil is a great Crisco subsititute

for those who absolutely MUST use crisco in their cooking because you need a fat that stays solid at room temp, I highly recommend that you seek out a palm oil shortening at your local food co-op or Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Henry's Marketplace, etc.

The brand I've found in Texas, and my mother has found it in Arizona too, is Imagine brand organic shortening. It's made from palm oil, and it's trans-fat free.

I tested it on pie crusts this Thanksgiving, and they came out perfectly.

[K8-EEE]

18. Make Sure Your Shortening Is At Room Temp (Not Cold) eom