Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies That Stay Soft for Days

If you want one cookie recipe that works every time, this is it. These brown sugar cookies are crisp at the edges, chewy in the middle, and they stay soft for days in a jar. There is no mixer, no chilling and no fancy ingredients. You can have warm cookies on the table in 25 minutes.

The three things that make them chewy

1. More brown sugar than white. Brown sugar contains molasses, which holds on to moisture. That is what keeps the center soft long after baking.
2. Melted butter. It coats the flour differently from creamed butter and gives a dense, chewy crumb instead of a cakey one.
3. An extra egg yolk. The fat in the yolk adds richness and chew.

The most important step: pull them early

Take the cookies out when the edges are set and golden but the centers still look slightly underdone and puffy. They will keep cooking on the hot baking sheet for a few minutes. This is how you get a soft middle. If they look fully baked in the oven, they will be crunchy once they cool.

Variations

• Chocolate chunk: fold in 150 g of chopped dark chocolate.
• Salted caramel: press a caramel candy into the center of each ball and finish with flaky salt.
• Oatmeal: replace 80 g of the flour with rolled oats and add a teaspoon of cinnamon.
• Browned butter: brown the butter first for a deeper, nuttier flavor.

Storing and freezing

Keep the cooled cookies in an airtight container with a slice of bread. The bread gives up its moisture and keeps the cookies soft. To freeze, roll the dough into balls, freeze them on a tray and then bag them. Bake from frozen, adding 2 minutes to the time.