# Why Would Anyone Want Hard Cookies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 25, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-want-hard-cookies/738495 "2015-11-25T01:50:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-want-hard-cookies/738495/21 "2015-11-25T16:05:31Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > My Nana used to make [Tirggel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirggel) so hard and tough you could chew on them for hours. They’re Swiss. [Pfeffernüsse](http://www.chowhound.com/recipes/pfeffernusse-german-spice-cookies-29086) are German and good for dunking in coffee or spiced wine. I bet Tirggel are, too. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-want-hard-cookies/738495/22 "2015-11-25T16:09:15Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Soft cookies straight from the oven are one thing. > > But the soft packaged cookies you get from the store? No thanks. I prefer my cookies WITH OUT the chemical aftertaste. This. I don’t trust “soft” prepackaged cookies. They taste nasty. I am a non-dunker, but I’d rather deal with crumbs than artificial softening agent. ---
**Author:** ![epolo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@epolo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epolo)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-want-hard-cookies/738495/23 "2015-11-25T17:32:34Z")
Some people like hard cookies; some people like soft cookies. That’s just the way the cookie sags and folds. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-want-hard-cookies/738495/24 "2015-11-25T17:34:35Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > They can be hard but brittle with it, that’s the way with biscuits in the UK. The Brits prefer thin and crisp, if Great British Baking Show is any indication, but they’re usually served with tea, right? ---
**Author:** ![TheFaerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TheFaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFaerie)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-want-hard-cookies/738495/25 "2015-11-25T18:11:03Z")
Depends on the cookie, really. If we are going with the basic packaged choco-chip, then crunchy. If we are talking fresh-baked, then a little crunchy on the edges, a little chewier in the middle. I’m a milk-dunker myself. My husband likes the really soft ones, but they taste underdone to me and I am one of those rare people who dislikes raw cookie dough. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-want-hard-cookies/738495/26 "2015-11-25T18:12:10Z")
A large part of why mass produced hard cookies were hard was because until relatively recently it was near impossible to do soft cookies that were shelf stable enough for mass distribution. Moisture and long unrefrigerated shelf life don’t like each other. So I imagine that for a lot of brands a preference for “hard” version has a lot of “that’s just the way this brand of cookie is supposed to me.” Start selling a chewy Oreo and I’d have issues with it because Oreo aren’t supposed to be chewy. ---
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-want-hard-cookies/738495/27 "2015-11-25T18:23:06Z")
Here’s a trick I learn some time ago. If you have hard cookies and you’ll prefer that they be softer, put a part of a slice of bread in the container. The cookies will absorb some of the humidity of the bread and become softer, you’ll have to experiment how much to put in and for how long to get the desired effect. You probably don’t want for them to get mushy. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-want-hard-cookies/738495/28 "2015-11-25T18:42:13Z")
> [@TheFaerie](#): > > Depends on the cookie, really. If we are going with the basic packaged choco-chip, then crunchy. _If we are talking fresh-baked, then a little crunchy on the edges, a little chewier in the middle._ I’m a milk-dunker myself. My husband likes the really soft ones, but they taste underdone to me and I am one of those rare people who dislikes raw cookie dough. Italicized is what I do. I haven’t purchased a cookie from a factory in years, as they just don’t measure up. ---
**Author:** ![oara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b77776/32.png) [@oara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oara)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-want-hard-cookies/738495/29 "2015-11-25T21:17:55Z")
I came from a non-dunking household, and the idea of cookies or doughnuts with fluid all over them weirds me out, and the idea of debris at the bottom of the glass/cup/mug is pretty unpleasant, even though at some level it’s no different from cereal in milk. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-want-hard-cookies/738495/30 "2015-11-25T22:55:41Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The Brits prefer thin and crisp, if Great British Baking Show is any indication, but they’re usually served with tea, right? Yep, it was all hard, dry (perfectly nice) biscuits here until we started getting huge American-style cookies too. Tea and ‘biccies’. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-want-hard-cookies/738495/31 "2015-11-25T23:02:01Z")
> [@Staggerlee](#): > > Yep, it was all hard, dry (perfectly nice) biscuits here until we started getting huge American-style cookies too. Tea and ‘biccies’. Yep, I will only eat Digestives. I don’t see the need for other types of biscuits. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-want-hard-cookies/738495/32 "2015-11-26T04:19:49Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The Brits prefer thin and crisp, if Great British Baking Show is any indication, but they’re usually served with tea, right? With or without tea they’re all good. Not everyone drinks tea or is having tea at the same time as they are eating biscuits 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LegendHasit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/legendhasit/32/8246_2.png) [@LegendHasit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LegendHasit)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-want-hard-cookies/738495/33 "2015-11-28T18:09:14Z")
I love hard cookies. Probably for the same reason I enjoy crunchy chips… it’s good frustration food. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-want-hard-cookies/738495/34 "2015-11-29T05:27:26Z")
It depends on the cookie. The only type of cookies I’m willing to buy are the hard sandwich cookies. If I’m baking them their hardness is totally dependent on the type of cookie they are. Some are meant to be hard, some soft, some chewy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-want-hard-cookies/738495.md?page=1)