Naturally Sweet Chocolate Chip Cookies

Why This Recipe Works

To make our low-sugar version, we decided to use Sucanat, since its molasses flavor fit the cookie’s profile nicely. Swapping the typical semisweet chocolate chips for bittersweet helped to further reduce sugar content, but tasters found that the flavor of the chips was a bit muted; chopped bar chocolate had much better chocolate flavor.

Even with the reduced sugar, these cookies had great flavor—but their texture was disappointing. They didn't spread enough during baking and they were dry, crumbly, and stale tasting. To encourage spread, we tried adding milk and tweaking the number of eggs; these cookies spread well but they were too tender and cakey. We backtracked and decided to take a closer look at how we were treating the liquid—specifically the butter—already present in our recipe. Our traditional recipe called for melted butter, but in a side-by-side test of melted butter versus softened butter, it was clear that softened butter was the way to go—the cookies spread beautifully.

One problem remained: they were still a bit cakey. Our solution was twofold: First, we found that size made a big difference. Smaller cookies were more uniform in texture, while larger cookies tended to have softer centers and crisper edges. Second, we adjusted the leaveners: In our traditional recipe, we used only ½ teaspoon of baking soda to give the cookies a small amount of lift. But a few tests revealed that increasing the amount of baking soda and adding a teaspoon of baking powder caused the cookies to “overleaven,” so the cookies rose high in the oven and then fell. This encouraged the pleasantly dense, chewy centers we were after.

Our cookies were almost perfect, but a 30-minute rest pushed them over the top; it hydrated the Sucanat and ensured the best texture and fullest flavor.