Cream of Tartar Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cream of Tartar Chocolate Chip Cookies is a recipe I usually forget about, then remember when I'm making Snickerdoodles. It's a chocolate chip cookie recipe with cream of tartar, baking powder and baking soda in the dough. All of the leavening agents (plus the ratios) give you a crinkly, wrinkly dough with crispy edges.

What is Cream of Tartar?

Cream of tartar is derived from argol, which is a crusty substance that appears inside wine casks during fermentation. I read that McCormick gets its argol from Italy, where they send very small people into the wine casks to do the scraping. The crusty crystal residue is refined into cream of tartar, which is an acidic salt. It is a good acid for baking, because it doesn’t add extra moisture to the batter like vinegar, buttermilk or other acids. It can be used alone or combined with baking soda to make baking powder.

What Does Cream of Tartar Do In Cookies?

The main purpose of the cream of tartar is to act as a leavening agent. It works with other ingredients to aerate and expand the dough. Cream of tartar also adds flavor to cookies, which is why it is often used in Snickerdoodles. And finally, cream of tartar can give certain cookies a smoother texture by inhibiting sugar crystallization. If you look closely at the cookie in the photo, you can see that it has wrinkles, yet the part between the wrinkles is slightly smoother. Update: Photo below is older. I took a new photo of one from my latest batch (first photo) which looks better. All I did differently was to use Land o' Lakes brand butter, larger chunks and King Arthur brand ap flour. I also baked the last batch in my Breville toaster oven on the convection setting, which I believe gives cookies a more "bakery" quality.

How Much Cream of Tartar in Cookies?

In this recipe, you use ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar for 2 cups of flour. You don't have to make any calculations or substitutions. However, if you ever want to use cream of tartar in place of baking powder in cookies, the general rule is to combine ¼ teaspoon of baking soda with ¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar. This mixture should replace 1 teaspoon of baking powder.

What's Up With the Oreos Comments?

The reason Oreos are mentioned in the Comments section is that at one point I added broken Oreos (just big chunks) to the dough. You can still do that if you'd like, but the cookies don't really need it.

Cream of Tartar Chocolate Chip Cookies

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (170 grams)
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (125 grams)
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar (125 grams)
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 egg (50 grams)
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (260 grams) 
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 ½ cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat butter and sugars until smooth. Add vanilla and egg and mix until combined.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, soda, salt, baking powder and cream of tartar. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and stir until incorporated. 

Divide the dough into about 12 equal sections (you can make them smaller if you want) and shape into balls. Place dough balls 3 inches apart (6 per cookie sheet) on parchment lined or non-stick cookie sheet and flatten tops slightly. You don't want to flatten it too much, you just don't want it to look like a ball. Bake for about 15 minutes or until brown around the edges. Cool slightly on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to set: remove from baking sheet. Cool on wire rack. Makes about 12 big cookies.

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Recipe

Cream of Tartar Chocolate Chip Cookies

Anna

Very wrinkly, chewy, chocolate chip cookies.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12

Ingredients

 

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter softened (170 grams)
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (125 grams)
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar (125 grams)
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
• 1 egg (50 grams)
• 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (260 grams)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 ½ cups chocolate chips

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat butter and sugars until smooth. Add vanilla and egg and mix until combined.
• In a separate bowl, stir together flour, soda, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cream of tartar. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and stir until incorporated.
• Divide the dough into about 12 equal sections (you can make them smaller if you want) and shape into balls. Place dough balls 3 inches apart (6 per cookie sheet) on parchment lined or non-stick cookie sheet and flatten tops slightly.
• You don't want to flatten it too much, you just don't want it to look like a ball. Bake for about 15 minutes or until brown around the edges. Cool slightly on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to set: remove from baking sheet. Cool on wire rack. Makes about 12 big cookies.

Keyword Big Chocolate Chip, Cream of Tartar

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