Maybe you’ve heard that baking powder “puffs” and baking soda “spreads”… but they do a lot more than that. Here’s what’s actually happening in your cookies: 🍪Baking powder: adds lift, making cookies thicker and softer, but also more cake-like with a lighter crumb. 🍪Baking soda: encourages spread, creates chewy centers and crisp edges, and helps cookies brown more deeply for better flavor. 🍪Both: gives you the best of both worlds, with enough lift for structure and enough spread for that classic chewy texture. 🍪No leavening: no lift means a dense cookie with very little structure. The butter melts but has nowhere to go, so it can make the cookies look and feel slightly greasy. I made a longer video going over all the differences in more detail, comment “video” if you’d like me to send that to you! #bakingscience #scienceofbaking #baking #cookietips