Using just the right ingredients keeps these cookies crisp

America's Test Kitchen on Mar 30, 2022

To make cookies that are thin and crispy, we picked our ingredients carefully: cake flour, melted butter, egg yolk and a combination of brown and white sugar. Cake flour contains less protein than all-purpose flour does, so it forms less gluten when it’s mixed into a dough.

Since gluten gives baked goods their structure, a cookie with less gluten will spread out more in the oven. Using melted butter makes for a softer, moister dough that spreads out as it bakes. Like gluten, egg proteins help give baked goods structure.

Skipping the protein-packed egg white keeps our cookies thin and crispy. The brown sugar adds molasses-y flavor while the white sugar holds on to less moisture to help with crispness.

Last but not least: Pressing these cookies before they go into the oven encourages them to spread out evenly for optimal crispiness!

Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 12 cookies

Recipe note: Make sure to use mini chocolate chips in this recipe. We don’t recommend substituting regular-size chocolate chips — they’ll make the cookies too thick.

3/4 cup (3 ounces) cake flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar

1 large egg yolk

2 teaspoons whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup (3 ounces) mini semisweet chocolate chips

Vegetable oil spray

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking soda.

3. In a large bowl, whisk melted butter, sugar and brown sugar until mixture is very well combined and smooth, about 1 minute. Add egg yolk, milk and vanilla and whisk until well combined and lightened in color, about 30 seconds.

4. Add flour mixture to melted butter mixture and use a rubber spatula to stir until combined and no dry flour is visible. Add chocolate chips and stir until evenly distributed.

5. Spray 1-tablespoon measuring spoon with vegetable oil spray. Use greased measuring spoon to drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheet in 12 mounds (1 tablespoon each). Respray measuring spoon after every 2 or 3 mounds. Leave space between mounds.

6. Wet your hand lightly. Use your damp hand to gently flatten each mound to 2-inch-wide circle, about 1/2-inch thick.

7. Bake cookies until golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes.

8. Remove baking sheet from oven and place on cooling rack. Let cookies cool completely on the baking sheet, about 30 minutes. Serve.

(For 25 years, home cooks have relied on America’s Test Kitchen for rigorously tested recipes developed by professional test cooks and vetted by 60,000 at-home recipe testers. The family of brands — which includes Cook’s Illustrated, Cook’s Country, and America’s Test Kitchen Kids — offers reliable recipes for cooks of all ages and skill levels. See more online at www.americastestkitchen.com/TCA.)