Sugar cookies are made by using a delicate formula that at first doesn’t seem scientific. All of the ingredients serve a purpose, and when you replace one ingredient or use a slight variation, the resulting cookies will be affected. For example, switching from brown sugar to white or granulated sugar can change the way your cookies turn out. That’s because white sugar is a large part of the recipe, about 30-40% of the ingredients. Sugar also affects the way the cookies rise and spread. In many go-to cookie recipes, it makes a dough that puffs up a little yet keeps its shape after baking.
When you substitute brown sugar for the granulated form, the cookie is puffier, chewier, and thicker than many bakers prefer. The puffy surface is harder to decorate, and the shape can also spread to slightly distort the molded or shaped dough. However, the molasses in brown sugar adds a rich flavor. It’s best only to replace half of the granulated with its brown counterpart. The result is a thick cookie with crispy edges that keeps its shape and has a flat surface that’s easy to decorate. No brown sugar on hand? Not a problem: You can substitute it with white sugar with added molasses.
Brown sugar upgrades your sugar cookie game
However, there is some chemistry involved in the difference between brown sugar and granulated sugar recipes, and it has to do with air and moisture. Sugar cookie recipes ask you to “cream” the sugar and butter together which adds air to the dough when you mix the two ingredients. This step is crucial: It helps the cookies rise once the baking soda is added to the dough. The extra air from the creaming step is enough to obtain a thick, puffy cookie that still holds its shape.
Brown sugar reacts differently because the acidity of molasses reacts with the baking soda to make the cookie thicker and puffier. This doesn’t happen with the granulated variety, as it is neutral and thus has no reaction with the baking soda. That’s also why the cookies produced with white sugar are crispier, thinner, and denser.
Brown sugar also locks in more moisture from the rest of the dough. While baking, less water escapes through steam, producing a chewier cookie. White sugar, on the other hand, allows the steam to be released while baking to create a crisper cookie. When using brown sugar in the cookie recipe, roll the dough to a thickness that’s slightly less than the standard quarter of an inch. This will help mitigate the puffiness. However, you may need to experiment with the thickness of the dough to see what happens to the brown sugar cookie after baking. But whatever you do, don’t use powdered sugar as a substitute: You’ll end up with a disappointingly cake-like consistency.
