How to downsample a texture?

How does sugar content affect cookie texture and spread?

• I have developed a taste for slightly less sweet baked goods than are commonly available where I live and I want the 'perfect' chocolate chip cookie [1] . I made a cookie which had a texture which was close to what I want but was too sweet. How would lowering the sugar content affect its texture? Could I use substitute some of the sugar [2] with another, such as dextrose or maltose, if it is important to the 'mouthfeel' of the finished cookie [3]? [1] for me, something which has a chewy center with crispy edges, not a cake-like texture. [2] I use all light-brown. [3] my line of thinking here was influenced by the idea of using less-sweet sugars in ice creams to increase mass (for a more desirable texture) without increasing sweetness. I don't know if this is also applicable to cookie texture.

• Answer:

  I don't believe the sugar content or type of sugar significantly affect the cookie texture.  A cookie's texture, whether chewy or crispy, is dictated by protein and moisture content.  In a chewier cookie, moisture from non-flour ingredients interact with proteins in flour to produce gluten.  Additionally, a cookie baked for less time has lost less moisture, resulting in a chewier cookie.  In a crispy cookie recipes, I have typically seen high protein to water ratios, which means the cookie gets drier faster during the baking process. Sugar plays a small role in this process, since only 1% of brown sugar by mass is water, and even less in white sugar.  I believe the sugar substitutes you mentioned should be fine.