The Type Of Brown Sugar You Use In Cookies Matters

Brown sugar plays an important role in baking a batch of classic chocolate chip cookies. Many recipes call for a one-to-one ratio of white sugar and brown sugar to achieve optimal sweetness. Brown sugar's moisture and density also contribute to the texture of a cookie once it is baked. So, which kind of brown sugar is best for achieving a cookie that is crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside? To get the inside scoop on all things sugar, Food Republic spoke to Chef Dennis Littley, a recipe expert at Ask Chef Dennis.

Chef Dennis revealed that dark brown sugar is almost always the way to go for achieving extra-soft chocolate chip cookies with a richer flavor. "Light brown sugar has a subtler molasses flavor, while dark brown sugar adds a deeper, more robust sweetness," the expert told Food Republic. "The extra molasses in dark brown sugar also makes cookies chewier." Of course, if you prefer a crispier cookie, light brown sugar might be a better choice to avoid that extra chewy texture.

Whether you prefer light or dark brown sugar, be sure it is soft and malleable. Hardened brown sugar that has lost its moisture can be difficult to mix into your dough, leaving you with unwanted pockets of crystallized sugar. If your brown sugar has hardened while sitting in your pantry, try softening it with a single slice of bread.

Every so often, we plan to bake chocolate chip cookies only to realize we are missing a key ingredient. Whether you forgot to add it to your grocery list or it has long expired — and yes, brown sugar can go bad after a while — there are still ways to bake cookies without using typical brown sugar. In fact, the best brown sugar substitutes might already be in your kitchen.

Brown sugar is made by combining white sugar and molasses, so if you happen to have the syrupy sweetener on hand, you can make your own brown sugar in no time. If you're out of molasses, you can substitute brown sugar in your cookie recipe with ingredients like maple syrup, honey, or agave nectar. These sweet alternatives will give your sugar the desired density for perfectly chewy cookies.

If you completely nix brown sugar and its substitutes from a recipe, it is still possible to make cookies. However, the dough will likely be much lighter in color and will appear slightly flat and undercooked after baking, as there was no brown sugar to help your dough rise. To achieve the classic chocolate chip cookie recipe we all know and love, brown sugar really shouldn't be skipped.