[Tyler520]

I was wondering if anyone could recommend how to get more rise on my family chocolate chip cookie recipe without making it cake-y?

i love the flavor, but they tend to go too flat for my liking, making it really easy to overbake and ending up too crunchy - I want them to be nice big and thick but stay a bit gooey in the center

my recipe is as follows:
1½ cups AP flour
1¼ tsp.kosher salt
¾ tsp. baking soda
¾ cup unsalted butter, melted and browned
1¼ cup dark brown sugar
cup (50 g) granulated sugar
1 egg
2 egg yolks
2 tsp. vanilla extract
6oz chocolate chunks

 

[chefwriter]

I'm not a baker but here are some things I would try.
Lower heat, more dough per cookie.
More leavening like more baking soda
whole eggs instead of 1 egg and two yolks.
Less sugar.
Hopefully one of the knowledgeable bakers will chime in but
that can get you started. Keep experimenting.
Even a poor cookie is still a cookie.

 

[fatcook]

Less Baking soda, I'd drop to 1.2 tsp to start.

Also, chill the dough balls before baking.

 

[summer57]

Here's an interesting article about cookies and getting the right texture. He goes into detail on the effects of butter, creamed or melted, eggs, sugar, and temperature of the ingredients and oven on cookies. It refers specifically to chocolate chip cookies, but it's good info for all cookies in general:

https://www.seriouseats.com/the-food-lab-best-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe

 

[fatcook]

Less Baking soda, I'd drop to 1.2 tsp to start.

Also, chill the dough balls before baking.

Argh, that was supposed to read 1/2 tsp... fat fingers.

 

[Tyler520]

Argh, that was supposed to read 1/2 tsp... fat fingers.

so maybe a dumb question from an amateur, but why not use baking powder in place of soda to get more rise? It doesn't seem the recipe has much, if any acid in it to activate the soda

 

[fatcook]

Not dumb at all. The brown sugar in the recipe is acidic and plays very nicely with baking soda. Baking powder might give a little lift, but can affect the flavor and make the cookies cakey.

The reason I suggested less baking soda is part of the lift it gives translates into spread which = thinner cookies. Since cookies don't have a lot of gluten build up (and should not) they go out as well as up. To control this, you can chill the dough and / or adjust your creaming time. Since you like the flavor you have, adjusting the baking soda is the easiest and most control-able step, thus a good place to begin.

 

[Tyler520]

Not dumb at all. The brown sugar in the recipe is acidic and plays very nicely with baking soda. Baking powder might give a little lift, but can affect the flavor and make the cookies cakey.

The reason I suggested less baking soda is part of the lift it gives translates into spread which = thinner cookies. Since cookies don't have a lot of gluten build up (and should not) they go out as well as up. To control this, you can chill the dough and / or adjust your creaming time. Since you like the flavor you have, adjusting the baking soda is the easiest and most control-able step, thus a good place to begin.

OK thanks - what about re-solidifying the browned butter then creaming it? I am perfectly open to other suggestions, even if they might slightly alter flavor

 

[fatcook]

Try it and find out - you end up with a batch of cookies, never a bad thing!

 

[jcakes]

If you decide to cream the firmed-up brown butter and it's still flatter than you want, you might try replacing a 1/4 cup of the firm butter with shortening - the shortening will hold it's shape a little longer than butter. You don't want to replace too much of the butter with shortening because of a loss in flavor will result.