These buttery chewy cookies will have you drooling just looking at them, and wait until you smell their fresh-baked goodness, thin, chewy and buttery..., heavenly!
Bring the butter to room temperature by taking it out of the fridge at least two hours before baking. It is also possible to quickly bring the butter to room temperature by placing it in the microwave for a few seconds, but be very careful not to melt it. Melted butter will change the texture of the cookies.
DO NOT OVER MIX THE DOUGH
Stir or beat the butter and sugars together until fluffy and well incorporated. Once the egg-butter mixture is creamy and fluffy the next step is to incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet.
It is important to know that over-mixing the flour into the wet ingredients will create a harder, tougher cookie because over mixing the flour into wet ingredients activates the gluten, and the more gluten the tougher the cookie. And because eggs are water based, it is very important to limit the stirring and mixing once the flour is being mixed into the watery egg-butter mixture.
It is very important to add the dry ingredients gently mixing only long enough to incorporate the flour. Add 1/2 of the flour and gently incorporate, then add the second 1/2 and barely, I mean barely mix it in. Add your chocolate chips and then finish incorporating the flour along with the chocolate chips. This only takes a few seconds.
PORTION THE DOUGH
Portion and roll dough using a cooking scoop. This will help to create uniformity. This is important, as a batch of equally sized cookies will bake more evenly.
Once all the batter is portioned using a cookie scoop, the next step is to either freeze or bake the portions of dough. Whether baking or freezing, place them on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. If baking, place them several inches apart to accommade the spreading. If freezing, place them tightly together, but not touching, and place the cookie sheet in the freezer, uncovered, allowing the portioned cookie dough to freeze completely before lifting them off the parchment paper and popping them in a ziplock freezer bag. Once filled, place the bag of frozen cookie dough in the freezer.
Please remember that the portions of cookie dough can not melt together if the little balls of cookie dough are kept frozen. When placing them into the freezer bag it is important to work fast so they will not have an opportunity to thaw.
Everyone needs at least one amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe to pull out whenever the mood hits.
TIPS:
Here are 8 professional tips that will help (even a novice) create the perfect chocolate chip cookies everytime.
1. For an accurate measure of flour, aerate the flour by running a fork through it several times before measuring or use the spoon & level technique by spooning the flour into your measuring cup, then leveling it off with a knife.
2. To find out exactly what size the cookie scoop is, fill it with water. Measure the water using baking-measuring spoons and pour the measured amounts of water into the scoop.
3. Use butter, not shortening. Butter prevents the formation of gluten, which results in a more tender cookie but also a cookie that spreads more. The more butter you use, the more the cookies will spread.
4. For an extra chewy cookie use all brown sugar in the recipe instead of part white, perferably light brown sugar, as dark brown sugar will give the cookies more of a molasses taste.
5. Add only one egg white. If a recipe calls for 2 eggs, use 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk. Egg whites dry out quickly when they are baked, stealing some of the moisture from the cookies.
6. Substituting a tablespoon or 2 of cornstarch instead of flour will make cookies softer and more tender. A tender cookie may or may not be chewy, but a chewy cookie must also be tender.
7. For thinner cookies, bake them at a lower temperature. The lower the temperature, the longer it takes for the cookies to bake, therefore giving them more time to spread.
8. Do not over bake. Remove the cookies from the oven as soon as they are golden brown around the edges. The centers will still appear somewhat doughy. Leave the cookies on the cookie sheet to cool. They will continue baking for a few more minutes on the hot cookie sheet.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup light brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 bag, bittersweet chocolate chips, good quality such as Ghirardelli, or you can use semi-sweet or milk chocolate We recommend bittersweet Ghirardelli Chocolate
Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Whisk together the flour, salt, cornstarch and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.
Add the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer, or use a hand mixer. Mix on medium-high speed until the butter is very light and creamy, about one minute.
Add the sugars and mix on high speed until all of the sugar is dissolved and there are no lumps remaining in the brown sugar, about one minute.
Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix on medium speed just long enough to combine about 30 seconds.
Add one cup of the flour, and mix just until almost incorporated, no more. Add the second cup of flour and mix until the flour is about halfway incorporated. Stop mixer and add the chocolate chips and mix on medium speed until the flour is incorporated and stop the mixer. Do not over mix.
Place the bowl of cookie dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Using a cookie/ice cream scoop, place scoops of dough on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. The parchment paper will help the cookies from spreading too thin. They will already be thin, trust me.
Bake until cookies are browned around the edges but still slightly doughy looking in the centers. Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet. They will finish baking on the cookie sheet. Once they are cooled, transfer them to a wire rack until they are completely cooled and set before stacking them or placing them in a container.
Store cookies in an airtight container with waxed paper between the layers. Cookies should stay fresh for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
Please note: For thinner cookies, bake at a lower temperature. The lower the temperature, the longer it will take for the cookies to bake, therefore giving them more opportunity to spread.
