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I made Toll House Cookies using this recipe this recipe. They turned out fine, but you could feel the sugar crunching under your teeth (I used half brown, half normal granulated sugar). Next time I want to try for a more chewy texture and I read that this can be achieved by using golden syrup instead of sugar. What is a good ratio for replacing sugar in my recipe? I'm assuming that by adding syrup (= more liquid), I could be throwing off the balance between wet and dry ingredients. Also, should I use powdered sugar instead of granulated. Or maybe I just didn't cream my butter with sugar properly?

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If you use golden syrup to make biscuits, they come out harder than they would with sugar, they don't come out chewy.

That's why most recipes for ginger nuts include syrup.

Corn syrup would give you the chewy texture you are seeking.

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  • Alright, I'll try that. Any ideas how to go about replacing sugar for corn syrup in my recipe? Should I just do it 1:1 with granulated sugar?
    – VoY
    May 15, 2011 at 18:19
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You answered your own question. You didn't cream the butter/sugar properly. And no, don't use granulated powdered sugar; the sharp edges of sugar crystals actually help to create air pockets in the butter, making the cookie slightly lighter.

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  • So the sugar should actually dissolve into butter during creaming? Also, in recipes which use brown sugar you're kinda forced to use granulated, because brown doesn't come in powder form - at least where I live. Maybe I could replace the brown part with syrup and the rest would be powder?
    – VoY
    May 9, 2011 at 7:18
  • Hah, I'm stupid. Use granulated, not powdered. Oops.
    – daniel
    May 9, 2011 at 9:44
  • Ok then, I'm pretty sure I creamed the hell out of my sugar and butter. Altough maybe I could've left the butter to soften up a bit more. What do you suggest then? Should I try going the syrup way? Or is certain amount of sugary crunch normal in cookies?
    – VoY
    May 9, 2011 at 9:59
  • You didn't cream it enough, full stop. If you are crunching bits of sugar--and you are sure that it is sugar, not just hard cookie crumbs--you have not dissolved the sugar enough.
    – daniel
    May 9, 2011 at 23:09
  • You might try using soft brown sugar (also called soft muscavado) if you can get it. Not only should this eliminate the granular feel, but it will result in a denser, chewier cookie.
    – ElendilTheTall
    May 10, 2011 at 9:42
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Also, golden syrup will make your cookies cook faster be aware of it!

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    Hello Kiara, this got flagged as "not an answer". It is indeed very little information to go on. Can you elaborate how exactly to go about the substitution based on that?
    – rumtscho ♦
    Sep 8, 2015 at 8:30
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The best way would be to substitute by weight: remove X grams of sugar, replace with X grams of syrup. However...

I think your real problem was with the brown sugar. Older brown sugar can develop lumps in it that don't cream properly, and stay as hard chunks in the finished cookie. I look out for these lumps while creaming the butter, and crush them with the back of a spoon to break them up. If your sugar has a lot of these lumps, you might consider either sifting it before use, or blitzing it in a food processor.

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