Saturday, August 30, 2008

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies


I'm a sucker for chocolate chip cookies so when I saw the beautiful cookies Chelle had made, I had to make them too. I've been curious about recipes from America's Test Kitchen (despite all the hate for them recently). So were these cookies the best? Well they were really good so right now I have three favourites for best chocolate chip cookie. Actually I think I've found more than that. It's kind of overwhelming actually, this search for "the best" one. They're all good so why should I have to pick? Sometimes, okay often times, when I bake something I find myself going back again and again to taste it to see if it's really as good/bad/chocolatey/whatever as I thought it was. Trying to completely analyze the level of awesome that the baked good has attained, and I think I'm going to stop that. Most things are good, some things are bad, and I think you know that as soon as it hits your mouth. Though there are those things that you don't like at first then something compels you to go back and try more and you strangely can't stop yourself from eating something that may not taste that good. Well that doesn't happen too often but I'm sure I'm not the only one!


So back to these cookies. They have nice soft middles and slightly crispy edges and I guess they do fit the title of "thick and chewy", though I think the Neiman Marcus cookies fit the "thick" role better. The thing I don't like about really soft cookies like this one is that they dry out pretty quickly so by day 3 they're nothing like day 1. But then I have really high standards for when a cookie is no longer fresh, whereas I know other people don't mind. I made them with a combination of milk chocolate chips and micro mini eggs, which ended up being not the smartest choice. The cookie dough itself is pretty sweet so I think it's best made with semisweet or my new favourite, bittersweet chocolate. I also want to try adding some coconut to the dough. Mmm coconut. Oh and these NY times chocolate chip cookies that everyone's talking about (that I too plan to make but haven't bought bread flour yet) made me leave the dough in the fridge for 24 hours and compare the immediately baked cookies against 24 hour refrigerated dough baked cookies. And I had a couple of people try them with me - no real difference. But maybe it's only true for that NY times cookie.

EDIT Feb3/11: This is a much better thick chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe, though these ones were good too.


Other cookie recipes:
Russian Tea Cakes
Chocolate Marble Chunk Cookies
Intense Chocolate Fudge Cookies
Any Way You Want It Biscotti

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Baking Illustrated, found on Brown Eyed Baker

Makes about 18 large cookies.

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (10 5/8 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup packed (7 ounces) light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.

2. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt.

3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips to taste.

4. Roll a scant 1/4 cup of the dough into a ball. Hold the dough ball with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough’s uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart.

5. Bake until the cookies are light golden grown and the outer edges start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy (don't be scared to take them out when they look a little underbaked, that's how you get the nice soft cookie), 15 to 18 minutes. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't go wrong with chocolate chip cookies, no matter what! Seriously, I have yet to meet someone who could turn them down. :)

Sara said...

Oh I LOVE homemade chocolate chip cookies! This look wonderful.

Anonymous said...

Ooooh. . . .looking at these photos is killing me--they look SO good!! Somehow I doubt they'd be too sweet for me, even with the mini eggs!!

Jaime said...

i love these cookies :) they're my new favorite. i thought they tasted just as good the day after...not sure about day 3 - they didn't last that long!

Anonymous said...

My sister found a great solution for keeping chewy cookies chewy through storage - put a piece of bread in the container. It sounds a bit odd, but I think that the small bit of moisture in the bread keeps the cookies from drying out and getting crispy; I promise it will work better than you expect.

Snooky doodle said...

how can i resist making cookies with all these great recipes around. these look so yummy. have to try them now :-)

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

You had me at "thick and chewy"!! My kind of cookie, for sure!! :0)

Rita said...

These look delicious. My husband loves ccc, I'll try those for him.

grace said...

if i'm gonna have a chocolate chip cookie, i want it to be thick. chewiness is always a welcome bonus. these look terrific, just how i like 'em. :)

Anonymous said...

I just love these cookies! I need to make them again. Yours look great! I saw your comment about the German Chocolate Cake on my blog, and this article on Wikipedia might interest you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Chocolate_Cake

Anonymous said...

Chewy chocolate chip cookies;-- you can never go wrong with that!

test it comm said...

Those look so good! I am going to have to get back to trying new ccc recipes.

Lisa said...

Those do look fine! I just love to have a homemade chocolate chip cookie around the house to dip in my coffee for breakfast. Not the healthiest breakfast, I know, but so perfectly delicious.

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

Since I love CCC I will have to try this recipe.

Maria said...

I am always in the mood for cookies! These look great!

Usha said...

I am a sucker not only for choc chip cookies but for anything chocolate...your cookies look fantastic :)

Katrina said...

Yours looks good and well, you're right, when is a chocolate chip cookie bad! I have never tried this recipe and really need to. Thanks for your review. NY Times is my current favorite, well, but so is Levain, and Jacques, and well, I love any ccc, I think.

Deborah said...

I always end up going back to the Toll House recipe. But these do look good, and definitely worth trying!

eatme_delicious said...

Hannah: Very true!

Sara: Thanks!

Ricki: Haha thank you!

Jaime: Yea they are quite good!

Chris: I think I have tried that before but not for a while - thanks for reminding me about that!

Snooky doodle: Thanks! Hope you like them.

VeggieGirl: Yea too bad they're not vegan though!

Rita: Hope he likes them!

Grace: Thanks!

Erin: Thanks and thanks for the link!

ovenhaven: Very true indeed.

Kevin: I look forward to seeing the ones you make.

Lisa: Mmmm yes what a delicious breakfast!

Helene: Hope you like it!

Maria: Me too - cookie time is anytime!

Usha: Thanks!

Katrina: Oh I really need to try that Levain recipe.

Deborah: Hm I don't think I've tried the Toll House recipe...

Anonymous said...

Wow! they look really yummy, what makes them go nice and bumpy like that? mine keep coming out all domy like muffins...

cant wait to try your recipe!
thanks

eatme_delicious said...

Party Caterer London: Thanks! I think it's probably the recipe you're using that's producing dome shaped cookies? Try out this one and hopefully it will work out better for you. =) If not maybe try to weigh the ingredients (especially the flour). Good luck!

Anonymous said...

I love America's Test Kitchen CC cookies. I don't know why people are so down on ATK as they've really taught me how to be a very good cook.
I always put my leftover cookies in the freezer and they keep very well. I'm less tempted to eat them all at once that way.