Does anyone know how to make a hard, crunchy chocolate chip cookie? When I make them, they usually come out soft, but my mom likes them crunchy (for dunking I guess). Does it have to do with the amount of butter you put in the recipe? Thanks for any help.

Also, does anyone have any good tips for a healthier cookie that my family won't be able to tell is healthier?

You should do a search on foodnetwork.com or epicurious.com (come to think of it, I think I even saw a recipe on ghirardelli.com) for a chocolate chip biscotti recipe. Those are the best cookies for dunking for coffee.. they come out extremely crisp. As for making them healthier.. I have no clue! :-) Merry Christmas!

Cherie

There are three basic components that determine the chewiness / crispness. First, it's a matter of the KIND of fat you use -- butter or margarine is not 100% fat, it contains water and dairy solids. So, these cookies spread more. If you use shortening, which IS 100% fat, there's no liquid or other substances so they come out chewier. Other factors include the gluten/protein content of the flour (less = crispier) and the amount of egg (less = crispier).

Check out this page: http://www.baking911.com/cookies_chocolate_chip.htm

She posts the Alton Brown 3-types-of-cookie recipes, as well as lots of other info. Basically, if you follow the recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll House chip bag as written, you'll get fairly crispy cookies.