Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 20 – 30 Chewy Chocolate Chips

I like a good chocolate chip cookie, and it’s a classic in the kitchen, but more often than not it seems people show up with hard cookies, or have a hard time with flat cookies, or the cookie is just too sugary without a rich flavor.  Don’t get me wrong, the Nestle Recipe is a classic, but I think we can do better. This easy recipe makes delicious, rich, chewy chocolate chip cookies, with a few baking secrets to make them really stand out!

There are a few key steps to making an amazing cookie

1. First off, melt the butter, but let it cool slightly before mixing

2. Bring your eggs up to room temperature – a light soak in some room temperature water will help

3. Don’t overbeat the dough – it will take on a bread like texture

4. Absolutely mix your ingredients in the proper order. By all means, play with ratios and add different ingredients, but in baking – and this recipe in particular – the mixing process makes a difference

5. Refrigerate the dough for anywhere from an hour to 24 hours

The refrigeration stage is one of the most important, and you’ll gain several awesome tasting benefits.  If you’re in a hurry you can skip this stage, but the dough will be chewier and have a much richer flavor the longer you let it refrigerate.  The dough will also be easier to work with, and you’ll get less spread if your cookies are prone to going flat on you.  This works with nearly any dough based recipe.

Let’s bake!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups plus 2 tbs of flour
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 12 tbs unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks), melted and cooled
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup granulate sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups chocolate chips (I prefer dark, but go with what you like)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
2. Melt the butter in the microwave or small pan.  After melting, let it cool for four to five minutes.
3. While the butter is cooling, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt together
4. In a separate bowl – this is important – beat the melted butter and sugars together until well combined and the butter is completely absorbed – about 3 minutes
5. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for one minute.  The mixture should be smooth and fluffy
6. Slowly add the flour mixture, beating on low.  This should only take a few minutes at most.  Be careful of over mixing
7. Mix in the chocolate chip cookies…or mini M&Ms….or nuts…or bea real barbarian, and add raisins. 
8. Refrigerate the dough for a minimum of 1 hour, but 24 hours is better
9. Using an ice cream scoop, make balls slightly larger than a golf ball, spread out a few inches apart on a cooking sheet sprayed with oil
10. Bake at 375 F for 12 minutes, or until golden brown.  Cool slightly before moving a cooling rack

Enjoy!