The Cookie Monster: How does the type of sugar affect different cookies?

Methods

Summary

To test the role of sugar in cookies, I am going to use three different cookie recipes (sugar, chocolate chip, and chocolate) and at least three different sugars (all white, all brown sugar, and replacing some white sugar with corn syrup at a ratio of 3 tablespoons per cup of sugar). The rest of the recipes will remain the same. That is, the only alterations to the recipe in terms of ingredient type and volume, mixing method, and baking is the type of sugar. All batches of cookies will also be made the same day and baked one right after the other.

All cookies will be graded on a 1-5 scale in terms of aesthetics, thickness, chew, and taste by me while the cookies are warm, cool, and the day after. They will be tested by others the day following baking.

Challenges

The largest problem I anticipate is unexpected changes in cookie dough and/or baking times caused by the variations in the recipes. This may cause the cookies to bake too quickly or slower than expected. The former is the larger issue as this would result in the cookies burning. To avoid this, I plan to check the cookies a few minutes before the recipe predicts them to be done.

Pre Analysis Plan

For each cookie type (sugar, chocolate chip, chocolate), I will take the average and standard deviation of the grades awarded to the cookies for their aesthetics, thickness, chew, and taste. The cookie with the highest grade in each category will be the "winner" of that category, and the one cookie that is the winner in the most categories will be the overall winner of that cookie type.