Cookie Ingredients and Textures

Appears in
On Food and Cooking

By Harold McGee

Published 2004

  • About
Most cookies are both sweet and rich, with substantial proportions of sugar and fat. They’re also tender, thanks to ingredients, proportions, and mixing techniques that minimize the formation of a gluten network. But then they may be moist or dry, crumbly or flaky or crisp or chewy. The diversity of textures arises from a handful of ingredients, and from the proportions and methods of combining them.