Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
This post was originally published on 5/20/2014. It has been updated with new photos and content.
I would be surprised if there is anyone who doesn’t have some sort of special memory related to chocolate chip cookies. They are one of those foods that tend to remind you of home and comfort. My chocolate chip cookie memory has to do with my grandma, as most of my food memories do. She was known throughout my family and friend group as having delicious chocolate chip cookies, so much in fact that they were dubbed “Babu Cookies.” (Side note: we call my grandma Babu, which is short for Babushka, or grandmother in Russian).
The best part was that there was always a batch of them somewhere in the house. Whether they were stocked in the freezer or a fresh batch was sitting warm and gooey on the cooling racks in the kitchen, Babu made sure we were never lacking chocolate chip cookies. I have not been able to perfect the Babu cookie as I remember it – slightly cakey and chewy – and part of that is because sometimes the memories associated with foods can tend to elevate them in your mind. So instead, after much practice in the kitchen I now make my own delicious chocolate chip cookies.
Although I’m ice cream obsessed and have a very close relationship with my Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes, my favorite dessert is a chocolate chip cookie. If I’m going to be specific though, my absolute favorite dessert is my Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies. I know, it sounds so egotistical, which is not me at all, but they are my ideal chocolate chip cookie. Chewy, soft, rich flavor and loaded with chocolate chips. They are also my favorite cookies to bake because there’s no resting time for the dough! This is ideal for whenever you are having a cookie craving, which is my usual state of being.
Chewy Texture
Having a higher percentage of brown sugar rather than granulated sugar, as well as an additional egg yolk, is what gives the cookies that chewy texture. Now, the secret with these cookies is that they are actually Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Rich Flavor
Browning the butter gives them a rich, deep flavor, and as an added bonus you don’t have to remember to let your butter come to room temperature!
Loaded with Chocolate
Really good chocolate chips are key and bring this cookie to a straight-up heavenly status. I stick to Guittard or Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I’ve heard great reviews about Scharffen Berger as well. Sometimes I even mix it up and do half chocolate chips and half chocolate chunks – yum!
Even though it takes an enormous amount of willpower to not devour them as soon as they’re out of the oven, my favorite way to eat them is at room temperature, or sometimes even slightly chilled in the fridge. So make these Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies and make some food memories. Or at least make your taste-buds extremely happy.
Extra Tips
- If you don’t already have one, get a cookie scoop. I promise it will make your life 10,388,772 times easier. I also use mine for scooping muffin and cupcake batter. It helps make your cookies the perfect uniform size every time and the dough doesn’t get soft from you touching it with your warm hands to make dough balls, resulting in thinner cookies that spread.
- Chill the scooped cookies for just a few minutes. If you have room in your fridge for the cookie sheet, pop the scooped cookies in there for 5 minutes or so to help keep the cookies from spreading too much. If you don’t have room for the cookie sheet, just putting your mixing bowl of dough in the fridge for 5 minutes or so, particularly between the first and second batches, will help a little with spreading.
- Don’t overcook them! The cookies will be really soft when they come out of the oven and the centers will look not done. If you keep cooking them the cookies will get overcooked. You’ll know they’ve reached the optimum cook when the edges have juuuust started to get a little browner than the rest of the cookie. Let the cookies rest on the cookie sheet on a wire rack (not the stove-top, which is most likely warm from the oven) for 1-2 minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire cooling rack. A cooling rack with grids is more stable for the cookies.
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (1½ sticks)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 12-ounce package of semisweet Guittard chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl sift together the flour, salt and baking soda, then set aside.
- In a small skillet over medium-high heat melt 8 tablespoons of the butter. Reduce the heat to medium and keep cooking, making sure to continuously swirl the pan, until the butter is golden brown in color, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour the browned butter into a large heatproof bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter until melted. Let the butter cool slightly.
- Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla to the large bowl with the browned butter. Whisk for 2 minutes on medium then medium high speed, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the egg, whisk for 1 minute on medium speed, then add the egg yolk and whisk for 1 minute on medium speed. The dough should be smooth and shiny. If using a stand mixer, switch to a paddle attachment. Stir in the flour mixture on low speed until a few flour streaks remain. Leaving a small handful of chocolate chips aside, pour the rest of the chocolate chips into the dough. The dough will be thick at this point so mixing in the chips will be a little hard, but just barely mix them in as you don't want to overmix the dough. If using a stand mixer, I usually do just 2-3 rotations on low.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to arrange dough balls, about 1½ tablespoons each, 2 inches apart on the first prepared baking sheet. Using the chocolate chips you set aside, lightly nestle one on to the top of each dough ball to get the "pretty chocolate chip cookie" look. See note below about chilling dough.
- Bake the cookies one cookie sheet at a time on the middle rack for 10-12 minutes. Cookies are done when they are starting to get golden brown and the edges have just started to set, but the centers are soft. Once removed from the oven let cool on the baking sheet on a cooling rack for 1-2 minutes, then carefully remove the cookies from the pan to a wire cooling rack.
If you prefer larger cookies, use a large cookie scoop to make dough balls of 3 tablespoons each. You will probably need to add some baking time.