This recipe is from 2005. It's adapted from the original Classic Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies in The King Arthur Cookie Companion. If you compare this recipe to the recipe they have on their website, you'll notice it's changed over the years with slightly different ratios of sugar, a lot less vinegar and a higher baking temperature. I love that King Arthur keeps the recipes on their website fresh and modifies them based on reviewer feedback. Maybe they saw my old pictures. But honestly, the original recipe is still solid, you just have to be pretty mindful and bake carefully.
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Tips for Crunchy Cookies
Over the years I've made Classic Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies with mixed results (always good -- but sometimes crunchier than others). Here are some tips to help make the cookies crunchy.
- You can bake these right away or chill the dough. Classic Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies tend to bake up flatter the longer the dough sits, which might have something to do with the full tablespoon of vinegar. When baked immediately, it has just reacted with the baking soda in the dough so the dough has more air. After sitting, some of that air has deflated. That's just a hunch, but may explain why the cookie pictured above, which was baked with chilled dough, baked up flatter. It was also browner, but to me that's a good thing. Dough that has been chilled overnight almost always gives you a browner, prettier, cookie due to the dissolved sugar and the Maillard reaction.
- Do not use an insulated cookie sheet, but rather a heavy duty cookie sheet or a rimmed baking sheet. I don't think a Silpat would be ideal here, either.
- Use the shortening because shortening helps give cookies a crunchy texture.
- If you are not using a scale, make sure to really pack your brown sugar. More sugar means more crunch, so if you don't pack the brown sugar you won't be using enough.
- Use a scale to weigh your flour. Both versions of this recipe call for 2 cups of flour with weight of 240 grams.
- If your cookies aren't crunchy the first time, try reducing the temperature by 25 degrees and baking for a longer time. Lower and slower usually gives you crunchier cookies because the edges and insides bake at an even pace and you don't have to pull the cookies out too soon.
A Classic Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies Update!
If you are not so much in the mood for crunchy cookies but rather a good semi-chewy cookie, here's another recipe from their website. It's similar to the Classic Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies, but calls for a bit less sugar and is baked at a higher temperature. They also throw in some almond extract to add an element of interest.
Recipe
Classic Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter unsalted, room temp (114 grams)
- ½ cup shortening regular or butter flavored (96 grams)
- 1 cup light brown sugar VERY firmly packed (230 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar 100 grams
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon apple cider or white vinegar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups all-purpose flour all purpose (240-260 grams)
- 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cream butter, shortening and both sugars with an electric mixer. Beat in vanilla, salt and vinegar.
- Beat in egg, scraping sides of bowl and mixing well, then add baking soda and beat so that it is well distributed. Stir in the flour. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Drop by tablespoonfuls or small cookie scoopfuls onto the baking sheets. Bake for 10-14 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for a couple of minutes then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Anna says
Hi Emz,
Thanks for the review! Mine were a bit chewy in the center at first, then hardened up a bit.
Emz says
I forgot to mention that the cookies (after a bit of cooling) do come out crunchy all over. I ate the cookie right after I took it out of the oven, hence my initial reaction. Sorry for misleading!
Emz says
Sorry for the late comment but I just tried this recipe and it is excellent! The outer edges are crispy and the inner circle is chewy. You don't taste any vinegar at all! This is my kind of cookie 🙂
I stumbled upon your site this past week Anna and I love it! Thanks for posting numerous recipes, I can't wait to try them all!
Randi says
Have you bought the new Martha Stewart Holiday baking magazine? It has some great looking cookie's in there.
mozartkugel says
Anna, maybe because Austrian people loves to buy things from America, or with American names ... ? I don't mind about the names of the cookies, but the taste is not so bad ... 🙂
Anna says
Joe, I think I put a tiny little bit more egg in than I should have, that's the only thing reason I can think of for them not being crunchy all over. Mozart, that's pretty funny that they call them "American Cookies". I am envisioning a cookie with red, white and blue chips. You probably know this,but Chocolate Chip Cookies were invented by an American woman named Ruth Wakefield who ran the Toll House in MA.
Mozartkugel says
I think these are sold as "American Cookies" in Austrian supermarkets.
Joe says
I think these are the ones I made a couple weeks ago - mine came out crunchy all over. Not sure what the difference was! I couldn't really taste any vinegar, but from what I've read it is there to retard the development of gluten while mixing and cuts the sweetness. No idea myself!