I love baking (does that go without saying?). I love trying new recipes and finding something that is just right. However, somehow, a few recipes have snuck in to my repertoire that are sub par. I have always felt my chocolate chip cookies were this way.
I want rich, chewy, big, golden cookies. What I usually got was a mixture of cakiness, toughness, and blah. What on earth? I can produce a stunning three tiered cake but am defeated by a recipe on the back of a little yellow package? (not naming names here)
Oatmeal cookies I have down pat. In fact I can vary my recipe and it comes out spectacular every time. Ribbon winning at the local county fair good. I accidentally just ate seven cookies in a row good. Impress new friends good. But plain Jane everyday chocolate chip cookies eluded me. Till now.
I stumbled on to this recipe just recently and was struck at how odd it was. Melted butter? So much brown sugar? That many chocolate chips? How much vanilla!?! As per usual I whipped up the recipe verbatim the first time. The batter was odd but into the oven they went. And when they came out- Oh my! There is the cookie I always wanted to make!
So what did I do? I messed with the recipe. I added fewer chocolate chips. I tried using whole wheat flour. Results- disastrous. Ok well that is overstating things. They were mediocre. Better than the little yellow package but not the out of the world cookies that came out of my oven the first time.
So if you are a crunchy cookie person, sorry these aren’t for you. But if you want a cookie that is still ooey gooey three days later (if they last that long) then here is your perfect recipe.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. 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. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.