A Chocolate Chip Cookie Lover’s Delight

Do you know anyone who doesn’t love a chocolate chip cookie?  There are many schools of thought on what makes a perfect chocolate chip cookie, whether oversized, bite-sized, with nuts or without.  Personally I like to make the recipe on the back of the bag of Nestle’s chocolate chips, which generally makes a smallish-sized cookie (so you can have more than one) with a good combination of crunchy on the edges and chewy in the center.  Within my family we have conflict around the inclusion of walnuts so I’ll generally split the batch and include half with/half without, and sometimes I’ll even throw in a handful of raisins just for fun.  The quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie is one thing that we can all agree on, that it should be pursued relentlessly, leaving no new recipe untested.

Dunk or dip. These cookies are so big you’ll need to eat half before they’ll fit in your glass!

Big on Size, Big on Flavor

This recipe from Cook’s Country promises thick, chewy, oversize chocolate chip cookies (without nuts) that are uniform in size.  Their secret is to use cooled, melted butter to give the ultimate chewy texture.  And by rolling the dough into balls for baking, instead of dropping onto the baking pan with a spoon, you control the shape to make the cookies uniform.  The verdict?  Absolutely delicious and super easy to make, so a keeper in the recipe box!

Beautiful cookies deserve a beautiful presentation! Instead of hiding them in a jar show them off on a pedestal stand.

Plan Ahead Notes

Always remember to read the recipe all the way through and have all of your ingredients ready before getting started.  This recipe will make 24 cookies, taking 15-20 minutes to bake, with each sheet baked one sheet at a time.  The recipe fits 6 cookies to a sheet but I squeezed in 8 in order to minimize my rounds of baking to 3 instead of 4.  Be prepared to spend at least an hour baking, regardless of how many cookies you fit on each sheet.  After the cookies are done baking they need to be left on the sheet for 10 minutes (they continue to bake on the hot tray), so it helps to have more than one baking sheet available to maximize your turnaround time.

One last note – the dough can be made in advance and refrigerated for up to two days.  You can also prepare the dough, roll out the balls, and freeze them on a baking sheet and store them for up to two months.  Just make sure to store the frozen balls in layers, separated by parchment paper, so they don’t stick.  If you do freeze them they can be baked straight from the freezer, just increase the baking time by a minute or two.

THE RECIPE

Ingredients

2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup packed (7 ounces) light brown sugar

1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 large yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups (9 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Step 1

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle slot and preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line at least two baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt.

Step 2

In a stand mixer with paddle attachment beat melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium until smooth (about 2 minutes).  Add egg and yolk and vanilla and beat until combined.  Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions and mix until just combined, scrape down sides of bowl as necessary.  Add in chocolate chips and stir by hand.

Step 3

Scoop 2 Tablespoons of dough and roll it into a ball.  Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet and place with 2 inches in between.  Bake 1 sheet at a time until edges are set and starting to brown but the center is still soft and puffy, about 15 to 20 minutes.  Make sure to rotate the sheet halfway through baking.  Cool cookies on baking sheet for 10 minutes, then they are ready to serve!

Tell us what you think!

Please comment below if you try the chocolate chip cookie recipe and let us know how it goes!  Find all of Brooklyn to the Catskills‘ recipes in the Food section of our website.  We’d love to hear what you think about our other recipes too!  And don’t forget to subscribe to Cooks Country the original Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe is theirs!