I LOVE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES, but I hate baking. I always end up burning something. So I've made this recipe about ten times in the last few months trying to get the cookie to fit this description: "moist and chewy on the inside and crisp at the edges." That's my idea of a perfect cookie. However, I have yet to be satisfied with the end results. Granted, I did accidentally use salted butter once... (my sister had her first college midterm and I wanted to surprise her with mint chocolate chip cookies- OMG it was bad). And.. I may deter from the recipe just a bit... like using margarine and vegetable oil instead of actual butter. Okay so maybe I should just follow the recipe for once.
Anyways, said recipe can be found here http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=19364. It's pretty neat because they have it down to a science. Cooks Illustrated explains to you why they like to use more brown sugar than white sugar, why they don't need to stick the dough in the fridge, etc.
The unique thing about this recipe is how the butter is browned before use. If done correctly (and with the right butter :P), the butter gives off a delicious nutty, toffee aroma. On several occasions, I used Imperial Vegetable Oil Spread which claims to be great for baking.
Not in this case!! It doesn't brown like butter does and the smell is definitely not delicious. The best word I would use to describe it is plastic-ky-- heh heh plast-ICKY haha. Um. Yes, so Imperial Vegetable Oil does not brown well. It didn't make the cookies taste bad but it doesn't taste as good as with real butter. I was just being a cheapo.
All the Stuff You Need:
- 1 3/4cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2teaspoon baking soda
- 14tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
- 1/2cup granulated sugar
- 3/4cups packed dark brown sugar
- 1teaspoon table salt
- 2teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1large egg
- 1large egg yolk
- 1 1/4cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
Instructions (btw, these directions are different from the Cooks Illustrated website. This is how I did it. It's the lazier and also more time efficient version.)
1. Pull out all the stuff you need including a large heatproof bowl, heatproof spatula, and a medium sized bowl.
2. Melt the butter on the stove on medium heat. While waiting (see! time efficiency):
- Add the baking soda to the flour and mix in a bowl.
- In the heatproof bowl, add both sugars, salt, and vanilla.
3. Swirl the pan until the butter is dark golden brown and you can smell the yummy toffee-ness.
4. Turn off heat and pour the butter into the heatproof bowl. Mix.
5. Add egg and egg yolk. Mix until smooth.
6. Allow it to sit for 3 minutes. While waiting, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
7. Mix for 30 seconds. Repeat the sitting and mixing two more times until it is "thick, smooth, and shiny,' according to Cooks Illustrated. I thought it was "thick, smooth, and shiny" after the first mix but I repeated it anyway :P.
8. Stir in the flour.
9. Stir in the chocolate chips. I actually used a mix of semi-sweet chocolate and milk chocolate. SO good.
10. Put as many small dough balls as you can on cookie sheet (2 inches apart) and bake for approximately 5-10 minutes, depending on your oven. I usually fit 8 to 10 cookies on there. Cooks Illustrated said bake time is 10 to 14 minutes but my cookies burned after 7 minutes! Just keep an eye out. They're ready when the edges look done but the middle is still super soft. It'll finish cooking out of the oven.
11. Cool on wire rack or eat warm :).
Usually, my end result is a super flat cookie that's really crispy but not really chewy. But it tastes delicious. I made them today though and I don't know what I did differently (maybe it was because I used 3 types of butter: margarine, vegetable oil, and salted butter :P or because I ran out of brown sugar) but my cookies came out poofy and a little more cakelike (but still delicious!). I'm not sure about it being the perfect chocolate chip cookie, but it has satisfied my chocolate chip cookie craving every time (except for the time I used salted butter) and that's fine with me!
Sorry for the crappy pics!
<3
