Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I never used to be a lover of chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate chip cookie dough… yes. But if presented with a cookie tray, I would choose sugar or white chocolate macadamia over chocolate chip any day. Until I found these cookies. They’re a bit salty, a little crispy on the edges, but so soft and chewy inside. While the dough is delicious, I surprisingly prefer the baked version.

People ask for this recipe all the time (because I make these for any and every occasion), and some have said theirs don’t taste the same. So here are my not-so-secret ingredients to make these melt in your mouth: organic sugars (they’re more coarse, which gives these cookies a great texture and no GMOs so double bonus), fine crystal sea salt, and Ghiradelli 60% cacoa bittersweet chocolate chips (dark chocolate essentially makes these fall in the health food category, right?! These chips are bigger than the normal chocolate chip, and they are the key to making these the best).

Another tip: buy a beater blade for your mixer. I have both a generic brand and a Kitchen Aid one. Surprisingly, I like the generic better because it has the rubber scraper on both sides of the blade. My wallet likes this one better as well.

Experiment with both parchment paper and silicone mats. The outcomes are different, so see which one you like better. I honestly go back and forth between the two. I usually use parchment, but I also used my mat the other day and was surprised that I preferred the mat.

Finally, it is better to undercook than overcook. As soon as the edges start to brown and the center is puffed up, pull them out of the oven. If they turn out crunchy rather than chewy, you’ll know you need to bake the next batch for a shorter amount of time.

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Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield 18 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp fine crystal sea salt
• 12 tbsp unsalted butter melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar organic evaporated cane juice
• 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1½ cups Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips
• Flaky sea salt optional

Instructions

1. Adjust oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Preheat the oven to 325º. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside (I do this rarely).

3. In a stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment, beat the butter and sugars at medium speed until thoroughly combined and airy, about 1-2 minutes. Add the whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and beat on medium-low until incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beater as need with a rubber spatula. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until combined, at most 30 seconds. Pour in the chocolate chips and again mix on low briefly until incorporated.

4. Scoop up about a half-cup of dough and roll it into a rough ball. Pull the dough apart into two equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with the jagged surfaces facing up, place the cookies on prepared baking sheets, spacing about 2½ inches apart. To fancy these up, sprinkle a pinch of flaky sea salt on top (I use Maldon).

5. Bake until the cookies are light golden brown and the edges just start to harden but the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 17 minutes, switching and rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking time. Do not overbake.

6. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets until they are stable enough not to bake. Transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely, though eating them while warm is highly recommended.

Notes

*These cookies are bakery-style large. If making them for a school class, I use a #40 cookie scoop, which will produce a larger yield and a smaller sugar-high to manage.

Source: Adapted from America's Test Kitchen