The Secret Ingredient For Soft And Chewy Cookies Is Honey
As the winter season progresses, our desire for comfort foods rises on the daily. At this time, home-baked cookies are likely to hit the spot for many of us. Not only do they taste absolutely delectable, especially when they are fresh out of the oven, but they also fill your home with a warm and comforting aroma that is sure to elevate your mood. Not all cookies are made equal though. The softer and chewier they are, the tastier and more fulfilling they tend to be. To make the chewiest cookies possible, you could try melted butter or include cream cheese as your secret ingredient. But one trick you may not have tried is adding honey to ensure your cookies are at their very softest and chewiest.
While a batch of honey cookies is pretty popular on its own, adding honey to any cookie will make the end result soft and chewy because honey offers additional moisture. Curious to know how it works?
How honey makes your cookies soft and chewy
The basic principle behind creating a cookie that remains soft and chewy on the inside while staying firm and crunchy on the outside is to ensure that the dough includes the right amount of moisture. While sugar certainly adds sweetness, it's the increased moisture in high-quality honey that adds extra gooeyness and flavor to the dough.
There are also other things you should keep in mind while using honey to make your cookies soft and chewy. The first of these is to cream the honey, butter, and sugar well so the texture of the cookies is just right. Second, be sure not to add too much flour to the recipe, as that will cut down the extra moisture the honey adds to it. Most importantly, you should never overbake your cookies as they will become flaky and crumbly once done. Around ½ a cup of honey per 2-dozen batch should be used so that its sweet flavor shines through the cookies, even as its texture remains chewy. But don't worry about the type of honey as any kind works well here, including wildflower, clover, orange blossom, or others.
Other ways to ensure your cookies stay soft and chewy
If you are a big fan of soft and chewy cookies and would like to experiment with more ways (apart from those shared above) to make them while baking at home, there are more ideas for you to try. Agave syrup, which holds a large amount of moisture, can be added to cookies to make them chewier in texture. Lemon juice, which has a tenderizing effect, can also be added to cookies to make them soft and tender. Ingredients that do a similar job include brown sugar and molasses.
Other nifty tips include replacing butter with vegetable shortening, which doesn't dry out the cookies because it's made of concentrated fat. You could also use 2 egg yolks and cut out the white part of the egg, which tends to dry out faster. Another quick tip applicable to chocolate chip cookies in particular, is to use chocolate chunks instead of chips as they will melt a bit in the process and add more moisture.