Monday, July 4, 2011

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

In honor of the 4th of July, I decided to make an All-American dessert. I could have made something festive with red and blue, like a fruit tart or this cherry cheesecake from Cooking Light that my sister shared with me, but I decided to go with something about little more simple and classic. Okay, realistically I didn’t want to leave the house today and there are only a few things I can make in a moments notice. So, I decided to make Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Now, I usually use the Tollhouse® recipe found on the back of the bag of chocolate chips. But today I wanted to venture outside my comfort zone and use someone else’s recipe. I really just did a simple search for “best chocolate chip cookie” and this amazing recipe came up as the third link on Yahoo! This helped me discover a brand new baking blog and opened me up to a quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. What makes a cookie perfect? Honestly, I don’t know. As long as a cookie isn’t over cooked and brunt, can you really go wrong? No, I don’t think you can. :) I’ve had some pretty amazing chocolate chip cookies in my life, so I’m determined to share as many of those recipes as I can get my hands on.


I think that my favorite part of  Savory Sweet Life are the little troubleshooting trip that Alice, the author, included at the end of her recipe. She provided a few solutions for flat cookies, like weighing the flour for a more exact and precise measurement. Did you know that if your baking soda and baking powder are more than a year old, they have probably lost some of rising abilities? I certainly didn’t know that! Alice’s recipe also uses sea salt/kosher salt instead of table salt and it really gives the cookie a nice texture. It’s fun, if salt in a cookie can ever be considered fun. :)

So, I give you the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever, as decided by one person on the internet and until I find another one to replace this one. Oh, it should be noted that I didn’t do a darn thing to alter or adapt this recipe. If someone says its the best, I’m going to try it the way they suggest first before I play with it. So pour yourself an ice cold glass of milk and enjoy!

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever
2 sticks salted butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1½ cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2¾ cups (12 ounces) all-purpose flour (weighing flour is preferred)
¾ teaspoon coarse sea salt/kosher salt (or use ½ teaspoon table salt)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoon baking powder
2¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 360°F. Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar until it’s nice and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes on medium-high speed.

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Emphasis on light, fluffy, and creamy.
  Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes.

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So soft and sweet and creamy. It's pretty incredible.
  Add baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour until cookie batter is fully incorporated.

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Kosher salt!
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Exactly 12 ounces of flour. :)

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A little thicker than I am used to, but it makes a great cookie.

Add chocolate chips until well distributed. The cookie batter should be somewhat thick.

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Soooo delicious. The recipe would have made 48 cookies if I hadn't had to taste-test the dough so much! ;)
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop about 2 tablespoons of dough or use a medium cookie scoop.

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I'll never stop loving my cookie scoop!
Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are nice and golden brown. Remove from heat and allow the cookies to stay on the cookie sheet for an additional 2 minutes. Pick up the parchment paper with the cookies still on top and transfer to a cool non-porous surface. Allow the cookies to cool on the paper for at least 3 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

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Perfect! And clean up is a breeze when you use parchment paper!
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Perfect golden brown edges.
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Maybe these are the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever!
 
Thanks for stopping by! Happy Independence Day!!

<3 Buttercup

2 comments:

  1. OMG you did not just post this recipe. this is like my childhood right here. ekkkkkkkkk i want i want i want

    ReplyDelete

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