The first time I ever made chocolate chip cookies, my Dad smiled and said: "Oh this is nice, thank you."
But I could tell something wasn't right. Dad was just being nice. Later I found the one dozen cookies in the rock garden. Among the rocks. Clue!
I'm not the only one who knows how to blow a chocolate chip cookie. Probably the worst one I ever had was over mixed (it went cakey), under chipped (never use mini chips unless you're putting in a couple of bags-at minimum), and over mounded.
So I set out to find out how to make soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies. And over the years I've read a gazillion recipes. Some call for melting the butter while others recommend adding in the milk. Finally, I discovered the secret: don't overcook them and make sure your butter (real butter) and eggs are at room temperature. And cream...cream.. cream that butter before adding anything else!
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (divided)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 whole large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees f.
- Lay out parchment paper on your cookie sheet
- Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
- In a small saucepan, use 1/3 of the butter (1/2 stick or 4oz) and brown until you can smell a nuttiness and it takes on a golden color, set into a heatproof bowl to cool
- In a medium bowl, cream together 1 stick of butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until well blended. (from this point on do everything by hand)
- Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy.
- Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended.
- Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.
- Scoop and drop your cookies onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Cookies should be about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are very lightly toasted.
- Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
It's important to stop using the stand mixer at point #7 and switch over the hand mixing. Why? Because over-mixed cookies turn into hockey pucks!