Chocolate Chip Cookies
There are so many chocolate chip cookie recipes out there I really don't think we need another one. So, this is more of how to make really good chocolate chip cookies from the best cookie recipe already out there: The Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. Special thanks to Alton Brown and America's Test Kitchen for their notes on making a really good cookie.
This recipe makes about 28 cookies
Ingredients
- 16 TBL (2 sticks) of unsalted butter
- 12 oz of bread flour (Bread flour is sold next to all-purpose flour. It has a higher gluten content, which makes for chewier cookies.)
- 3/4 tsp of salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 8 oz of light brown sugar
- 2 oz of sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 TBL (1 fl oz) of milk
- 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract (I recommend Nielsen-Massey's Vanilla Paste)
- 12 oz (1 bag) of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use good ol' Nestle)
Other Hardware
- At least 1 half-sheet cookie sheet. 2 makes things faster.
- Parchment paper (you can get it in the baking aisle of your favorite market)
- A #24 portion scoop or a digital food scale (Chef Works downtown has both)
- A silicone (or wooden) heat proof spatula (for browning the butter)
The Process
- On the stove, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. After the foam starts to subside, stir the butter with a silicone spatula, making sure you scrape the bottom of the pan. As you continue to cook, the milk solids will begin falling to the bottom. Continue cooking and stirring until the milk solids start to turn from white to amber. The butter should smell slightly nutty. Remove the pan from heat and continue stirring until milk solids turn a light brown. Pour the browned butter into a large mixing bowl, making sure to scrape all the milk solids into the bowl.
- Add the brown and white sugars to the butter. Stir to combine.
- In a separate, smaller bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking soda.
- When the butter/sugar mixture has cooled slightly (about 15 minutes), add the milk, whole egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and mix well. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to remove any flour pockets.
- Add the chocolate chips and fold them in.
- At this point, the cookie dough will be a little loose, like a thick pancake batter. Let the dough sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes (longer is fine) to let the butter cool down and the gluten to start forming. After 30 minutes, the dough should be very stiff and hard to stir.
- While waiting on the dough, adjust your oven rack to the center and preheat it to 350º. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Measure out a level #24 scoop of dough and place it on the cookie sheet. I can get about 8 cookies per sheet (in a 3-2-3 pattern).
- If you don't have a #24 scoop, you'll want to measure out 1.5 oz (about 42 grams) of dough. Roll into a rough ball.
- If you don't have a scale, you can measure out 1/3 cup of dough, break it into 2 pieces and form them into a ball.
- Cook 1 sheet at a time, until cookies have melted and just started to brown around the edges, about 10-12 minutes. The cookies will still be a little pale, and the tops should be slightly shiny and cracked. Be careful not to overbake them!
- Leave the cookies on the cookie sheet to cook for at least 10 minutes. You can cook a second cookie sheet while waiting for the first to cool.
- Move the cooled cookies to a cooling rack and cool completely, about an hour.
- Store in a sealed container at room temperature, or freeze for later in an airtight plastic bag.