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    Here Are Before-And-Afters Of 7 Cookie Hacks

    Read on for easy cookie baking tricks that will last you a lifetime.

    Michelle No
    by Michelle No

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Alice Yoo / BuzzFeed

    One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is the unlimited number of excuses to bake (and eat!) cookies.

    Disney Channel

    Whether it's a holiday party, an office potluck, or simply a way to get my apartment to smell like butter and sugar, baking is one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season.

    And while I have a go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe, I wanted to find out if there were cool adjustments I could make to make my treats even tastier.

    FOX

    Here's what I tested:

    1. Bake cookies in muffin tins instead of cookie sheets to make them perfectly round in shape.

    Michelle No / BuzzFeed

    The idea: Bake perfectly round cookies by scooping cookie dough into muffin tins instead of cookie sheets. When the cookies are done baking, their edges will take the tins' circular shapes.

    Did it work? Yep! Though, I might be biased because I generally like my cookies more on the cakier and soft side, which baking in tins will also help with. And in case you're wondering, here's the small batch chocolate chip cookie recipe I used.

    MIchelle No / BuzzFeed

    The results: For someone with strong perfectionist tendencies, I was deeply satisfied with this tip that helped me get perfectly round cookies. It wasn't even hard to get the cookies out of the tins. I just banged the pan on a hard surface, and the cookies easily popped out. Next time, I'd try scooping even larger portions so that the edges get even thicker and their insides softer.

    2. Use pudding mix in your dough to make chewier cookies.

    Michelle No / BuzzFeed

    The idea: Add a serving of pudding mix (I used about a third of a cup for a dozen cookies) to your recipe for softer, moister, and chewier cookies.

    Did it work? Heck yes! They weren't necessarily chewy, but these turned super moist and tender and were a crowd favorite. ☝️

    Michelle No / BuzzFeed

    The results: From appearance alone, it's obvious that pudding mix makes cookies moister and more tender; look how much shinier they look! And I swear these aren't under-baked, the vanilla pudding just gives them a paler color that may not appeal to everyone. When I took a bite out of a cookie that I had let rest for several hours, I was surprised by how well it had retained moisture. I brought a batch for my co-workers and everyone LOVED 'em and asked me for the recipe, so I'd say this recipe is a clear winner.

    3. Use more white sugar than brown sugar to make thin and crispy cookies.

    Sarah Jane Sanders / Serious Eats / Via seriouseats.com

    The idea: Typically, cookie recipes call for 2 parts brown sugar to 1 part of white sugar. In this hack, I use a recipe in which the ratio is reversed, which in theory should lead to thinner, crisper cookies.

    Did it work? Nah.

    Michelle No / BuzzFeed

    The results: Maybe I needed to make a more drastic change in my white sugar to brown sugar ratio, because I didn't see any noticeable differences in chewiness, or even appearance, in my white sugar-favoring cookies. If you check out Serious Eats' more holistic experiment, you can see that the change only becomes obvious when you make brown sugar the exclusive sweetener in the recipe. As I mentioned, I'm more of a moist and tender cookie kind of person (my brain just equates crispy with dried out and stale) so I'm honestly kind of glad this trick didn't work!

    4. Substitute mayonnaise for butter and eggs.

    Michelle No / BuzzFeed

    The idea: Use mayonnaise — which is primarily made with oil, eggs, and vinegar — in place of the usual butter and eggs that go into every cookie recipe.

    Did it work? Yes! And even though my cookies were crumbly, I'm going to pocket this recipe and will definitely be using it again in the future.

    Michelle No / BuzzFeed

    The results: Let me start by saying that I LOVE mayonnaise (haters, be gone!!). I am the kind of person who doesn't consider a sandwich complete without a thick shmear of mayo, who will lick the mayo off a knife like it's Nutella, and who always keeps a jar stocked in the fridge. So, even though this six-ingredient mayonnaise cookie recipe resulted in slightly crumbly cookies, this trick is one I'll remember for whenever I'm craving cookies but find myself out of butter and/or eggs. Also, it's important to note that while these didn't smell of mayo at all, the substitution did significantly change the texture so you should avoid this hack if you're attached to your tender and cakey treats.

    5. Use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour for chewier cookies.

    blog.kitchenaid.com

    The idea: This trick comes to us courtesy of Alton Brown, who uses bread flour instead of AP flour, as well as an especially high brown sugar to white sugar ratio, to make extra chewy cookies.

    Did it work? Yes, though you wouldn't think so from the picture!

    Michelle No / BuzzFeed

    The results: Look, I know the cookie looks flat and crispy (it's partly a result of using Alton Brown's recipe, which inspired this swap, but additionally calls for substituting one egg with milk), but trust me when I say these cookies turned out chewier than any other batch. They were bendy in texture and had the most satisfying chew, and I KNOW these would hold up in a milk dunk. If I had to choose a chocolate chip cookie recipe to make for a Christmas morning, Alton Brown's would be it.

    6. Use malted milk to infuse cookies with a nutty flavor.

    cookiesandcups.com

    The idea: Add malted milk powder to your chocolate chip cookie recipe for cookies that are slightly nutty, chewy, and have an extra depth of flavor.

    Did it work? Oh yeah.

    Michelle No / BuzzFeed

    The result: The change in flavor wasn't drastic, but this batch of cookies definitely offered an extra chewiness and smelled especially amazing, sort of like how a batch of walnut-studded chocolate chip cookies would smell, but without the actual nuts. They also were a tiny bit darker even though they were baked for the same amount of time.

    7. Use a box grater to salvage burnt cookies.

    Marie Telling / BuzzFeed

    The idea: OK, this one is kind of lame. But who hasn't burned a cookie before? Apparently, all you have to do to save a burnt cookie is grate the bottom until you've gotten rid of the blackened parts.

    Did it work? LOL, not really 🙃

    Marie Telling / BuzzFeed

    The results: The hack itself was very straightforward and easy — you literally just have to grate the bottom of a cookie. But even once the blackened parts were gone, the burnt taste lingered and the cookies were still overly crispy. I think the only way to save burnt cookies is to not burn them in the first place.

    You can read through the rest of the baking hacks we've tried here.