The Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie

| 0
chocolate cookies

The Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie

Course: Sweets
Sweets Sub-Category: Cookies
There are days for fancy updates and trying out new techniques, and then there are days when the rain is beating against your window and the heater breaks down. Often these days are when your ice cream is screaming for a co-star and you just want a good, old-fashioned cookie. This recipe gives you a not-quite-thin, not-too-dense chocolate wonder. Bake these until they just begin to brown on the edges, then take them out and let them finish baking on the cookie sheet.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks 224g Butter
  • 2 cups 450g Packed brown sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 2 cups 340g Chocolate pieces
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 tsp 4g Salt
  • 3 cups 400g Unbleached all-purpose flour

Instructions

  • Cream butter with the brown sugar until it looks fluffy. Use either a hand-held mixer, a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a large, heavy bowl, a wooden spoon and a strong arm. Don’t worry if the butter started out cold – it’ll get fluffy as you work it.
  • Add your eggs and scrape the bowl well. Keep mixing for 1 more minute and add the chocolate chips. Mix until just combined.
  • Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until just combined.
  • Shape your cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. We like using a portion scooper for perfectly sized cookies (it’s an ice cream scoop, really, and comes in sizes varying from little snacky-sized cookies to gargantuan big-as-your-head ones).
  • Bake at 350°F until lightly golden brown.
  • Let them finish cooking and cooling on the cookie sheet – no need to transfer to a cooling rack.

Notes

How can you turn this classic into something spectacular? Two easy steps:
  1. Use Organic brown sugar. It’s got more moisture and caramelizes better than conventional brown sugar.
  2. Leave the chocolate chips out. Huh?! Yep. Chocolate chips have added stabilizers to ensure they keep their kiss-shaped curly-q on top, even after baking. This added strength keeps the chips from melting oh-so-perfectly. Try chopping up your favorite bar of premium baking chocolate (think Scharffen Berger, Valrhona, Cordillera, Callebaut.. or even the Pound Plus bar from Trader Joe’s) rather than the standard chip for outstanding flavor.
Variation: Peanut Butter Toffee Cookies: Add 4 tbsps peanut butter when creaming the butter, and replace the chocolate chips with 1/2 cup of broken pieces of toffee.
Tip: For the best, most even baking, use light-colored aluminum cookie sheets. In a bakery, these are called half sheets or jelly roll pans. The darker your pan, the more browning the bottoms of your cookies will have.