Is there anything better than melty, chewy chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven?
There are a few things I believe every woman needs: 1. Jesus 2. A good pair of cowboy boots. 3. A never-fail, always perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. If you have questions about the first, I d love to chat. For the second, you can t go wrong with Ariat. And for the third, well I m about to share my personal go-to recipe and let you in on the five steps you need to achieve perfect chewy chocolate chip cookies.
There are 5 key steps to make perfect chocolate chip cookies! Let s dive in. Butter + Shortening: Butter brings flavor, shortening brings structure. Delicious chocolate chip cookies need both! If you want crispy, flat chocolate chip cookies (no judgment, some people do), then you want a cookie that uses all butter. It spreads quickly in the oven, which gives you that flat cookie. I like cookies with structure and more texture, so my chocolate chip cookie recipe uses equal parts butter and shortening. This way, we get the yummy, buttery flavor that all chocolate chip cookies need and our cookies have a little height to them thanks to the shortening.
Brown Sugar
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I m developing recipes, I always reach for brown sugar first. What is brown sugar? It s white sugar that has added molasses, and that molasses brings two important attributes to the table. First, it gives us a deeper, more caramelized flavor. We want that extra flavor to make up for using a little less butter and little more shortening. Second, molasses brings moisture, which yields cookies that are more tender and chewy than if we only used white sugar. As a bonus, these cookies stay softer a bit longer than cookies made with only white sugar would. That means if for some reason you find them hanging around for a few days, they will still be delicious!
Mix Chocolate Chips
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I love to use a mix of chocolate chips in my cookies. If you re just starting out and not sure what mix you d like, I recommend the mix I have in the recipe below: 1 cup dark chocolate and 1 cup semi-sweet. If dark chocolate isn t your thing, I d go for a combination of milk and semi-sweet. The combo of chips will give your cookies a little something extra, a few different notes of chocolate flavor that will keep your folks coming back for more. Also, taste the chocolate chips! Buy bags of milk, dark, and semi-sweet and taste each one to get a feel for what you like and how they each taste. There is a difference and knowing what you prefer will lead you to many days of baking success. Semi-sweet are my go to when I need a little sweet fix!
One Pan at a Time: Once the cookie dough is ready, it s hard not to want to rush the process because, after all, perfect melty chewy delicious chocolate chip cookies are just on the other side of a 10 minute cooking time. I have made a lot of cookies and I have found that the best way to ensure cookie success is to bake only one pan in the oven at a time. This means you get to do the 10-minute cookie pan dance. Prepare one pan and put it in the oven. While that bakes prepare the next pan. When 10 minutes is up, the first pan comes out of the oven and the second goes in. The timer is set for 10 minutes and when it goes off you ll know two things: 1) it s time to remove the second pan from the oven and 2) it s time to move the cookies from the first pan to your cooling racks. Repeat the process until all of your cookies have baked, cooled, and moved to cooling racks.
Underbake the Cookies: Just as too much butter in a cookie recipe makes for flat, crispy cookies, so does too much time in the oven. I always pull my cookies out when it looks like they need a few minutes longer (not just chocolate chip cookies all cookies). My recipe calls for 10 minutes of baking time, and when you first open the oven it s likely you ll think you read that wrong. Rest assured, you haven t. If your cookies are starting to just brown on the bottom and they are fat and puffy, it s time to take them out! They rest on the warm baking sheet for ten full minutes after coming out of the oven, which gives them a little more baking time without more spreading.
There you have it my 5 steps to perfect chocolate chip cookies! For my go-to, never fail chocolate chip cookie recipe scroll down!
Basically, at this moment, the only thing standing between you and chocolate chip cookie happiness is softened butter. Go throw a stick on the counter, put on your comfy boots, and get in the kitchen! 4.6 from 14 reviews Print Chocolate Chip Cookies Author: Jessica Wood Recipe type: Dessert Prep time: 25 mins Cook time: 40 mins Total time: 1 hour 5 mins Serves: 26 We all need a go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe and this is it! Perfect chewy chocolate chip cookies. Ingredients ½ cup butter, softened ½ cup shortening 1 cup brown sugar ½ cup white sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 2½ cups flour ½ tsp baking soda ¼ tsp salt 1 cup dark chocolate chips 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips Instructions 1. Preheat oven to 375 and line 3-4 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside. 2. Prepare the wet ingredients: With mixer on low speed, cream together butter and shortening
until well combined, scraping down bowl of mixer occasionally. Add sugars and mix on low speed for about 2 minutes until creamy and fluffy. Scrape down sides and bottom to make sure sugar is fully incorporated then, with mixer on low, add both eggs and vanilla and turn mixer to medium speed to incorporate fully, about 30 seconds. Turn mixer off and prepare dry ingredients. 3. Prepare the dry ingredients: In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt using a whisk so that everything mixes together very well. 4. Combine the two: With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture one spoonful at a time. When you've added all the flour, stop the mixer and remove the bowl. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir in any unmixed flour and scrape down the sides and bottoms of bowl. Fold in your chocolate chips. 5. Bake the cookies: Using a jumbo cookie scoop (about two tablespoons), scoop dough and release directly on parchment-lined baking sheet. You should get about 8-9 cookies on each sheet. Bake one pan at a time for 10 minutes. The cookies will not look done, but perfect chewy cookies come from slightly undercooked cookies. Take the cookies out and let them rest (they will continue baking a bit) on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Then remove to a cooking rack. 6. Enjoy! Notes You can use any combination of chocolate chip cookies for this that you like. I love the combination of dark chocolate and semi-sweet, but you could also use bittersweet or milk chocolate or 2 cups of just one type of chips. It's completely up to you and your cookie taste buds.