★ Why You'll Love this Recipe ★
You won't believe me until you've tried this recipe for yourself. There is a secret to perfectly soft, chewy cookies. It's one secret ingredient that will change your homemade cookie game.
I'm talking perfectly tanned bottoms, moist and chewy from top to bottom and the perfect balance of fluffy texture and rich flavor. Bakery quality.
★ The Secret Ingredient ★
The Secret to Super Soft Cookies. Just ONE ingredient.
You're here because you want to know just what it is that makes the very best batch of super soft chocolate chip cookies! Well, I'll tell you what it's not first. It's not melted butter. And it's not sour cream, although that's something I might try because it sounds interesting.
Ready for the big secret? There's an ingredient that will make your cookies extra flexible and soft.
It's corn syrup. That's it! That, my friend, is the secret ingredient to the best SOFTEST chocolate chip cookies.
It truly is a magic ingredient that took me years to learn about. Apparently it's cookie baking's best kept secret.
Do not get it confused with high fructose corn syrup and go running for the hills. Just plain old corn syrup. 0 grams of fat and 10 grams of sugar per 2 tablespoons. And you can even use light corn syrup.
Enough to Share
Yield is 3 dozen. So I hope you have friends who like cookies! I mean, I hope you have friends. Who doesn't love cookies? Especially the best soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies in the universe.
★ Ingredients You'll Need ★
You'll need most of the normal stuff but the difference will be made with the one secret ingredient — the corn syrup!
- All purpose baking flour. I actually really like to use a half and half blend of white and whole wheat flour. I like the taste and texture of the whole wheat flour but if that's not your thing, then you can just use all white flour.
- White sugar.
- Brown sugar. You can go light or dark. Dark has extra molasses flavor so if you're into that, go for dark.
- Eggs. I like the taste of orgnaic, cage-free eggs. The are typically fed a diet of corn and soy and that makes for tastier, more yellow yolks.
- Sea salt. The extra flavor of sea salt vs. regular table salt adds a really nice touch to these cookies.
- Butter. Go with full-fat butter over margarine for the best flavor. A better quality butter will usually give you a more rich, creamy flavor.
- Baking soda. Any kind is fine, just make sure it's not old and expired or it may not give you that fluff.
- Chocolate chips. Go gourmet! Or go mini. Anything other than the normal chip will add a novel element to these cookies setting them apart from regular, boring cookies. 🙂 Toll House Chocolate chips are fine but if you want to upgrade, splurge for the gourmet chocolate chips like Ghiradelli.
★ How to Make these Cookies ★
The full recipe can be found below but here's a quick overview of the step involved. (Don't worry, it's not much different than typical cookie-baking.)
- Mix together butter, sugars, corn syrup, egg and vanilla.
- Blend dry ingredients together.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Scoop dough balls onto lined cookie sheet.
- Bake then cool.
That's it! The only difference from typical cookie-making is we are adding the secret ingredient — corn syrup — to make these cookies super soft and flexible.
★ FAQs ★
Corn syrup helps make cookies soft and chewy by locking in moisture and preventing sugar from crystallizing and making them crunchy or stiff. Just a small amount can give your cookies that bendable, bakery-style texture.
The key is locking in moisture. Immediately after cookies are cooled, you want to seal them in an air-tight container. This prevents them from dying out and loosing that key moisture which keeps them soft, flexible and oh-so-chewy.
Bakeries use a balance of ingredients to ensure their cookies stay soft with that fresh-baked texture locked in. Corn starch is often used for soft, crumbly cookies whereas corn syrup is used for chewy, flexible cookies.
Cornstarch and corn syrup help cookies stay soft in different ways—cornstarch reduces gluten for a tender structure, while corn syrup adds moisture and prevents crystallization. In short, cornstarch softens the structure; corn syrup softens the texture.
Just a side note, apparently even Martha Stewart doesn't know about this secret ingredient. If only she did, maybe her recipe would have received 5 stars instead of 4. Boom!
You be the judge though. Try both recipes and do a blind taste test for fun!
★ More Cookie Recipes ★
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The Secret Ingredient for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter softened
- ½ cup sugar
- ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup light corn syrup
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (or you can use more all purpose flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- pinch nutmeg (optional)
- 10 oz dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup pecans optional
Mighty Mrs. is a #WalmartPartner.
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream butter and two sugars together. Add corn syrup, egg and vanilla.
- In a separate medium-sized bowl, mix together flours, baking soda, sea salt and nutmeg. Add dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture.
- Fold in chocolate chips (and pecans if desired).
- Using a cookie scoop, spoon onto baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet and bake at 350˚ for 10-12 minutes or until middle is just set (not shiny). Remove from oven and let cool. Remove with a thin metal spatula.
Neri says
Is this OK when less sugar?my kids don't want too sweet.
Angela G. says
Hi Neri, You can lower the amount of sugar used but keep in mind this will affect the flavor and texture of the cookie. Experiment and see what works for you and your kids.
rima smith says
Yummy. Amazing. I but left out the nutmeg- not a fan
Angela G. says
Thanks for the feedback, Rima! So glad you enjoyed this recipe.