For Crispier Cookies, This Is The Sugar You Should Be Using

If you're baking cookies, and you'd like a particular mouthfeel and texture, you might wonder if using a specific kind of sugar really makes a difference in your recipe. Whether you're making chocolate chip, shortbread, or any of your other favorite cookies, sugar plays a role in qualities such as texture, taste, and moisture levels. There are a variety of sugars to choose from, so if you'd like a crispier cookie, there's one choice that will work best.

Whether you're making chocolate chip, shortbread, or any of your other favorite cookies, sugar plays a role in qualities such as texture, taste, and moisture levels. White granulated sugar does the best job of making cookies crispier, slightly drier, and helps them spread more on the baking sheet. Interestingly, among white sugars, there is actually a difference between granulated sugar and cane sugar. Though the two varieties are interchangeable in recipes, there will be subtle differences in the finished cookie. Because it's more refined, granulated sugar melts more readily and has a neutral sweetness compared to cane sugar.

Some cookie recipes call for brown sugar, and while you can substitute one for the other, there is an important difference between brown and white sugar, even though they share some of the same production processes. If you substitute brown sugar for white granulated sugar, cookies will become chewy, with more of a caramel flavor due to the molasses in brown sugar. Using a mix of granulated and brown sugar gives you the best of both worlds. Cookies turn out less dry and a bit chewier than if you used only granulated sugar, but remain firm with a touch of caramel sweetness.

If you want to experiment, try powdered sugar (or confectioners' sugar), particularly for sugar cookies. It produces a tender, dense, and crumbly texture, similar to a shortbread cookie. But if your goal is a perfectly crispy cookie, white granulated sugar still delivers the best results.