Melt in your mouth orange vanilla cookies recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the trick to making soft and chewy cookies? ›

It's not the egg, all-purpose flour, or even the vanilla extract. The simple, yet oh-so-necessary component is cornstarch. That's right, the flavorless thickening agent used for soups, stews, and curries is also the secret weapon for baked goods that boast a silky-smooth mouthfeel.

Cookies spread because the fat in the cookie dough melts in the oven. If there isn't enough flour to hold that melted fat, the cookies will over-spread. Spoon and level that flour or, better yet, weigh your flour. If your cookies are still spreading, add an extra 2 Tablespoons of flour to the cookie dough.

Remember moisture is the key! White sugar creates crispier cookies and brown sugar creates chewier cookies. Why use melted butter? Melted butter creates cookies with a different texture compared to cookies made with softened or creamed butter.

Overmixing your batter can lead to runny cookies.

I mixed the batter more than I should have both during the creaming stage of the recipe and after adding the flour. As a result, the cookies came out light and airy, and I was able to taste the butter more prominently in this batch than in others.

For soft cookies, use: Brown sugar, as it has a high moisture content and retains moisture better than white sugar. Also, when combined with eggs, brown sugar can prevent spreading (taller cookies tend to be softer and fluffier). Shortening instead of butter or in addition to butter.

Baking soda is generally about three times stronger than baking powder, so adjust your recipe accordingly. Baking soda and baking powder can produce cookies with different textures. Baking soda is typically used for chewy cookies, while baking powder is generally used for light and airy cookies.

Cornstarch helps product soft and thick cookies. Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie. An extra egg yolk increases chewiness. Rolling the cookie dough balls to be tall and lumpy instead of wide and smooth gives the cookies a bakery-style textured thickness.

Salted butter, softened – I prefer salted butter but you can also use unsalted and add an extra pinch of salt to the dough. Brown sugar – Just brown sugar because we will get the 'granulated sugar' flavor from the corn syrup. Corn syrup – The corn syrup is what makes these cookies CHEWY FOR DAYS.

Cookies that are dense and chewy incorporate more moisture into the batter. This can be achieved by making substitutions with wet and dry ingredients, or even just changing the way you incorporate certain ingredients. Plus, your particular baking technique and your method of storing cookies can also play a role.

Butter is an emulsifier and it makes cookies tender. It also adds in the crispy-around-the-edges element. Adding too much butter can cause the cookies to be flat and greasy. Adding too little butter can cause the cookies to be tough and crumbly.

What happens if you add too much butter to cookies? ›

Classic signs of a cookie with too much butter include crispy-bordering-on-burnt edges, a greasy surface, an excessively brittle texture, and a predominantly buttery flavor that overpowers the other caramel and chocolate notes.

Overmixing the dough: Overmixing can lead to tough and dense cookies. It's essential to mix the ingredients just until they come together to avoid developing too much gluten.

Use Brown Sugar

Add two tablespoons of light or dark brown sugar to your cookie recipe. Brown sugar can hold extra moisture because of its molecular structure (science!). The glucose and fructose found in it are hygroscopic, which means they suck up and hang onto moisture and moisture = soft, chewy cookies.

Another way to soften cookies is by placing the cookies in an airtight container with a damp paper towel. The paper towel will release moisture and help to soften the cookies without making them too soft or mushy. Another way is to place the cookies in a plastic bag with a slice of apple or a damp tea towel.

If you bake too many cookies (as if there is such a thing!) and are concerned about them going stale, just add a slice of white bread to the storage container to keep them from hardening.