What really is the perfect chocolate chip cookie? I like mine warm, thin, crispy on the edges and chewy/soft on the inside. Some people I know like them thick and soft or with butterscotch chips in their cookies. I know that I can never get my chocolate chip cookies right, but I found out the way to do that is within the chemistry of the ingredients.

It makes sense of course– each ingredient in a recipe, especially baking recipes, is made to do something else to the cookie. So, it’s easy to see that in order to get the perfect cookie, one must mess with the different ingredients to get the properties that they desire. A picture has been circulating online recently of 8 different cookies labeled with the changes in their recipes to really cater to everyone’s cookie needs.

For example, if you want the thicker, soft cookies, it’s best to use a recipe with more flour. The molasses in the brown sugar vs using regular granulated sugar definitely affects the color and taste of your cookies. It’s also important to me to use both baking powder and baking soda so that my cookies will have the texture I enjoy most. In this article, there’s even a way to get your cookies to taste store-bought, (but I don’t know why anyone would seek that).

There you have it; it is possible to get baked goods in the fashion that you decide.