Cornstarch in chocolate chip cookies?Who knew. I read this blog post last week discussing using a secret ingredient to keep chocolate cookies soft and chewy. I was surprised to learn the secret ingredient was cornstarch.
I’ve soaked raw beef strips in cornstarch to make the beef tender, so I guess it makes sense. Curiosity got the best of me and I had to try it out. The recipe comes courtesy of Anna Olson and can be found on the Food Network.
I followed the recipe almost exactly. I found the dough to be pretty dry, especially for a chocolate chip cookie recipe. As a result the cookies didn’t do much spreading and they maintained a pale color.
The cookies were indeed soft. So the cornstarch definitely worked. These were good, but a little dry and a little pale. My favorite soft chocolate chip cookie is still this one. But it was still fun to try out another recipe. I might have to try adding cornstarch to other cookie recipes and see what happens.
Chocolate Chip Cookies with cornstarch
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 8 oz bittersweet chocolate cut into chunks (I used one cup of chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cream together butter and sugars until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and blend in. Stir in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chunks.
- Drop by tablespoons onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown around the edges.
Notes
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
I’ve seen recipes that swear by refrigerating the dough for at least an hour before baking,(and it seems to work for me) will this hurt this recipe?
I don’t think it will hurt the recipe.
However, I found a better cornstarch cookie recipe since making this one that I definitely recommend you trying: https://kirbiecravings.com/2013/05/best-soft-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
I did not have any problems with mine spreading out. I did however make my cookies gluten free. I used 2 C of my gluten free baking mix, 1 t of baking powder instead of soda, and 1.5 t of xanthium gum. Delicious!
I’ll have to try it with gluten free baking mix sometime!
There’s been a lot of talk about these cookies spreading. Yes, anything with butter will spread a little bit. The trick is to refrigerate the dough for about 20 mins before you bake it. Learned it from good ol’ Martha Stewart! Works every time!
I actually have had issues with the cookies spreading. In fact, they don’t spread much at all. You sort of have to press down on them to help them spread.