Crispy or chewy, one of the easiest cookies to make is the humble sugar cookie. To make your cookies chewy, use real butter, not shortening or oil; these make the cookies spread out while they cook, resulting in thin, crispy cookies. Another trick is to use bread flour instead of all-purpose, making your cookies chewy the same way it gives a toothsome quality to bread. It is best to make the dough a day in advance and chill it overnight to prevent excess spreading during cooking. This recipe is for sliced cookies, but you could also roll the dough out and use cookie cutters.
Instructions
1. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low speed for 30 seconds, then turn up to high until the butter and sugar have been creamed. This should take at least 4 to 5 minutes. Add the corn syrup after the first 2 minutes. When properly mixed, the mixture will be light yellow, fluffy and smooth.
2. Turn the mixer off and add the egg and vanilla. Mix on medium-low speed for 1 minute to combine.
3. In a separate bowl, thoroughly mix the flour and baking powder.
4. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar, half a cup at a time. Continue to mix until all of the ingredients have been incorporated, but do not overmix. This will make your cookies tough.
5. Shape the dough into a log and wrap it in a sheet of parchment paper. Store it overnight in the refrigerator.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place your cookie sheets in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them. This will chill the metal and make the cookies less likely to spread.
7. Remove the cookie dough log from the refrigerator and slice into 1/2-inch cookies. Place these on a sheet of parchment the same size as your cookie sheet.
8. Pull the cookie sheets from the refrigerator and put the parchment paper with the cookies on top. Turn the oven temperature down to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, checking them after 8 minutes. If you have more than one pan in the oven, move the pan on the bottom rack to the top and the one on the top to the bottom halfway through cooking.
9. When the cookies start to get pale brown around the edges, pull them out of the oven. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute, then take them off the parchment and move them to a rack to finish cooling.
Tags: butter sugar, your cookies, cookie sheet, cookie sheets, cookies chewy