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.
Just made these cookies, exactly as the recipe states, and they are awesome! Crispy on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside. These cookies barely spread, I always bake on a stone, maybe that plays a part? Next time I might add a little cinnamon, just because I love it. Thanks for the recipe!
Hmm, I think the stone might be the reason they barely spread. Glad you like them though!
Thanks for the recipe! I made two batches for my coworkers and have gotten lots of compliments! I used 3/4 cup of brown sugar instead of the full cup and I ended up using half vanilla and half almond extract. They came out a little flat but definitely soft and, most importantly, yummy! Thanks again!
Glad you enjoy the recipe. Thanks for sharing your variation!
Delicious cookies, no doubt. Although we followed directions exactly, ours were flat.
That is strange. Mine did not turn out flat. As I mentioned, this wasn’t my favorite recipe and I’ve actually found another cornstarch one I like better, though a lot of people really love this one. It seems like the cornstarch should prevent the cookies from going flat. I wonder if maybe you had too much butter?
I have been making really fluffy cookies for years with a combo of butter/butter flavored shortening. I made these tonight, and followed the directions exactly – and mine fell flat. Not CRAZY flat, but definitely not a fluffy cookie. The reason I’m commenting is because I live in a higher altitude, and have to adjust my flour accordingly. Today I decided to follow the directions exactly, but feel like if I added 1/4 -1/2 cup more flour, these probably would have turned out better. Just a little note for those of us living the high life! 🙂
I will try these again – with more flour next time! Thanks for the recipe!
these were awesome! Made some for my family and they were like ” is this pillsbury?” the recipe was right on my cookies didnt look like the picture but they were still pretty and chunky and a bit more brown like normal choco chip!! I will be making these forever
Glad you enjoyed these! I actually have another cornstarch version which I made recently that I love even better, but I haven’t gotten a chance to post about it yet.
Looking at this recipe I guarantee if you do 1.5 sticks of room temp butter and potentially add an egg white (bringing it to 1 egg 1 egg white) your cookies will be moist, will spread a bit, and will brown. 🙂
Thanks, I will try that out!
ok. thanks kirbie. I guess I’ll just have to bake the cookies for 8min for them to be soft. Someone told me to put butter on them, and as the butter melts the cookie softens. Any thoughts on that ?
I’ve never heard of that! I would worry that it would make the cookies too oily
hello kirbie. I hope this wont make you made but I’m short on time but love the house to smell like fersh bake cookies. Would this cornstarch work for cookie dough? If i mix it in and then cut the dough apart? Will the peanut butter trick work also? Thanks.
Sorry I don’t think you can add the cornstarch after to premade cookie dough. I don’t think it will mix in the dough properly
We love these cookies. I even made them in a gluten, soy, dairy, nut, free they were still awesome!
Wow, that’s a lot of variations!
I’ve learned that if I refrigerate the cookie dough after it’s all mixed and ready, the cookies tend to keep their shape and not go flat. I’ve even refrigerated the dough overnight…or longer.
I’m looking forward to first trying Kirbie’s “instant pudding” cookie recipe, and then I’ll try this one.
Has anyone ever heard of putting some cream of tartar in the cookie mixture to help keep them soft. My friend’s mom told me she does that, when I asked how she always got such perfectly soft cookies. I’m not sure of the measurement, though…so might be something to experiment with, as well.
Thank you!
Made these last night for ice cream sandwiches, they were perfectly fluffy and soft!!
Oooh, nice!
I just made these cookies to kick off the Holiday baking season here at our house. I really love them! Mine did not spread at all! I browned them but left the center a little gooey. They are great! I followed the recipe exactly. Thanks so much. Happy Holidays.
Nice! I can’t wait to start cookie baking this weekend!
this recipe works better with an eletric mixer, and i even put some hazelnut jif in the middle of the cookie
Nice!
Honestly this recipe was a disappointment. I was excited to try them but they ended up tasting a bit odd.
If you read my post, I didn’t actually love them either. But a lot of other people tried it and loved it, so I’m wondering if I did spmething wrong.
I just baked these using 2 eggs, 1 c white flour, 1 c wheat flour, 2 T flax seed and 2 T brewers yeast, 1/2 c dark chocolate chips and 1/2 c semi-sweet. Lactation cookies! All that’s missing is oats. Delicious!
Wow, sounds great!
my cookies were flat all the time until I stopped using those air bake cookie sheets. I switched to plain old jelly roll pans and parchment paper.
Interesting! I have noticed how things bake differently depending on the pan, parchment paper, etc. It’s crazy how many factors there are.