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I recently had a baking question pop into my mind that I knew I had to get into the kitchen to test.
I wondered if using cheap vs. expensive ingredients in my Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies would make a difference in overall taste, texture, and quality.
Running to Google, I saw that Nate from The Internet had done an experiment on his YouTube channel that I knew I had to recreate and see for myself!
So, I went to the grocery store and selected the most inexpensive, mostly store-brand generic ingredients as well as the most high-end, premium ingredients to test the same recipe side-by-side.
Let’s dive into today’s baking experiment to see if using more expensive ingredients in cookies is worth it!
All new ingredients were purchased from the start to eliminate freshness as a variable (prices will vary if you already have the ingredients). Amounts used in each batch is shown in parentheses.
Disclaimer: we recognize the words ‘cheap’ and ‘expensive’ are relative and mean something different to everyone. Just being able to bake cookies is a privilege in itself that none of us at HTH take for granted. We certainly aren’t trying to exclude anyone baking on a budget with this post – in fact, you’ll soon see how I really feel about the more expensive ingredients.
Cheap vs. Expensive Ingredients in Cookies: Which is Better?
INGREDIENTS USED FOR “CHEAP” COOKIES
| Ingredient | Cost for New Item | Cost Per Batch of Cookies |
| Signature all-purpose flour – 5 lb | $3.99 | $0.67 |
| Arm & Hammer baking soda – 1 lb | $1.99 | $0.01 |
| Signature sea salt – 12.4 oz | $3.99 | $0.05 |
| Lucerne unsalted butter – 16 oz | $4.99 | $2.50 |
| Signature granulated sugar – 4 lb | $3.79 | $0.21 |
| Signature light brown sugar – 32 oz | $2.79 | $0.76 |
| McCormick vanilla extract – 1 oz | $6.99 | $2.43 |
| Eggland’s Best eggs – 12 count | $5.99 | $1.00 |
| Signature (Safeway store brand) semisweet chocolate chips – 12 oz | $3.49 | $3.49 |
| TOTAL | $41.30 | $11.12 |
INGREDIENTS USED FOR “EXPENSIVE” COOKIES
| Ingredient | Cost for New Product | Cost Per Batch of Cookies |
| Hayden Flour Mills white sonora wheat all-purpose flour – 2 lbs/907 grams | $9.89 | $4.14 |
| Arm & Hammer baking soda – 1 lb | $1.99 | $0.01 |
| Fleur de Sel – 4 oz | $18.95 | $0.70 |
| Grassland unsalted butter – 16 oz | $7.98 | $7.98 |
| Wholesome organic cane sugar – 16 oz | $5.99 | $1.32 |
| Wholesome organic light brown sugar – 24 oz | $7.49 | $2.72 |
| Nielsen Massey pure vanilla extract – 4oz | $22.99 | $2.00 |
| Vital Farms eggs – 12 count | $7.99 | $1.33 |
| Guittard super cookie semisweet chips – 10 oz | $6.99 | $6.99 |
| TOTAL | $93.55 | $23.20 |
Chocolate Chip Cookie Experiment Appearance Results
It was interesting to note that we could tell a difference in appearance in the cookies before they even hit the oven just from the cookie dough and cookie dough balls.
The “expensive” cookie dough was darker in color compared to the “cheap” cookie dough. This is likely due to the organic brown sugar being darker in color compared to the cheap brown sugar used. It seems more so lately that there’s a wide variety of colors and intensities of brown sugar products.
The expensive cookies baked up perfectly round and didn’t spread much at all. The chocolate wafers on top were visually beautiful and made these cookies look like they belong in the case of a gourmet bakery.
The inexpensive cookies spread more, were more wrinkly around the edges, and more brown around the edges. Without even tasting them, we could already tell the centers would be very gooey and almost slightly underbaked even though they baked for the same time, at the same temperature, in the same oven.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Experiment Taste Results
With the expensive cookies, we could actually sense the sugar granules in the cookie more because the organic sugar granules were bigger. These cookies had more of a butterscotch flavor because the brown sugar used was darker in color. The chocolate wafers are more subtly sweet compared to the chocolate chips used in the “cheap” batch.
The lower cost cookies definitely tasted closer to a traditional chocolate chip cookie, almost more like premade store-bought chocolate chip cookie dough. The chocolate chips tasted a little more artificial and sweet, especially after tasting the premium chocolate wafers in the expensive cookies.
We actually conducted a fun blind taste-test experiment in the studio to see if people could guess which cookie was the cheap cookie and which was the expensive one.
Every person who did the blind taste test guessed correctly! The participants said they could tell which were the more expensive cookies because that one had better flavor, the chocolate wafers were delicious, and the texture was more enjoyable. Even our photographer’s school-age son said “I can tell these are the expensive cookies, they just taste expensive!”
Chocolate Chip Cookie Experiment Texture Results
The expensive cookies were thicker, puffier, and fuller than a regular chocolate chip cookie. These were soft, chewy, with a slight crisp to the edges.
The cheap cookies were very, very gooey in the middle, greasy and slightly oily on the bottoms, chewy in the center, with a very crunchy edge. These cookies would likely be more enjoyed by someone who enjoys a crispier texture to their cookie, although the greasy bottoms weren’t the most appealing.
In fact, greasy cookies is a complaint I sometimes see in social media and blog comments. Now I know it could very well be the choice of butter that’s at fault!
Final verdict:
Overall, the expensive cookies were definitely the winner among everyone who tasted them in the studio.
However, I wouldn’t say I preferred the expensive cookies over my classic Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies made with my go-to ingredients. My HTH-approved ingredients are not always the most expensive. In fact, I often test recipes with the most widely accessible ingredients to make sure the recipes will turn out for everyone. I don’t want to create an unfair advantage for myself in my test kitchen using extra premium ingredients hardly anyone else will use!
It’s hard to say which ingredient is worth splurging on without conducting single ingredient comparison tests.
Our takeaway in the studio was that the butter was a huge factor in what made the expensive cookies more enjoyable in terms of taste and texture. This may be because the cheaper brand of butter contains more water content. However, the differences in the flour used are worth noting too. The Hayden Mills flour is made with wheat that’s milled local here in Arizona and is unbleached and unenriched. But there’s also the vanilla and chocolate, both of which contain a wide array of quality among selections at the store.
Basically, ingredients used can make a huge difference. Have you noticed any differences in your cookie baking based on the brand, quality, or style of ingredients used? Tell me in the comments below!
More Science of Baking Articles:
- Ingredients I NEVER Use In Baking
- How to Bake Picture Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Best (and WORST) Baking Pans
- How to Bake THICK Cookies
Cookie Recipes You’ll Love:
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Photos by Joanie Simon.
The vanilla is not likely to be a factor. America’s Test Kitchen did a whole experiment on vanilla and determined that artificial vanilla can be used and completely unnoticed in baking. They said save the expensive stuff for when it will not be cooked, like in a custard. Anything baked will basically waste the expensive stuff because the heat cooks off the volatile compounds that are complex and give the good stuff its better flavors.
I would expect that the butter and chocolate chips would make the most difference. The more butterscotch-y flavor could be duplicated in the inexpensive cookies if you use dark brown sugar, or use 2/3 light brown and 1/3 granulated. (Many recipes have a 1:1 ratio of light brown to white sugar.)
For the Cheap/Expensive chocolate chip cookie, is the Fleur de Sel salt used in the recipe or just for the top for the finishing of the cookie.
Hi Julene! For the purposes of this experiment only, we used the Fleur de Sel salt in the cookie dough. Tessa recommends using fine sea salt in her Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, and you can always sprinkle a little Fleur de Sel on top of any cookie you like, if you wish!
Hi Tess,
Where can I find Grassland unsalted butter
Hi Julene! Our studio is based in Phoenix, AZ – it may depend on where you live as to whether Grassland is sold in your local store. Check out their store locator here.
Hi Tess,
Where do you buy your Fleur de Sel salt. I cant find the brand you have in the pictures of ingredients for the chocolate chip Cheap/expensive test. Also do you use the Fleur de Sel for just the finishing or do you also use it in the recipe
Hi Julene! Tessa purchased the “See Salt” brand from Safeway, though I’m not seeing it on their website currently. You can also find it directly on See Salt’s site. In this specific test, that salt brand was the most expensive salt found in the store. It was used in the recipe.
Hello! I know you haven’t yet done side by side tests for each ingredient, but I am wondering what you think was the biggest ingredient change that made the thin vs. thick cookies? I have made the brown butter cookies numerous times, and the latest time they were thicker and I actually preferred the thinner style. Will experiment on my own as well but just wondering if you had an idea!
Hi Roshni! Check out Tessa’s article here on making thick cookies – some of the adjustments can be made in reverse for thinner cookies! For example, colder cookies will result in thicker cookies, so you could try letting your cookie dough balls sit at room temperature while your oven preheats (or even a little longer) to warm them up slightly, for a thinner cookie with more spread. I hope that helps! Happy baking 🙂
I need to make the butter change. I only use King Arthur’s Flour, high quality vanilla, brown sugar and chocolate chips. I’ve always gotten generic white sugar and butter. I will try a good butter the next time I bake cookies.