Thursday, March 13, 2014

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe in the World

I love chocolate chip cookies.  They are the best kind of cookie, in my opinion.  For several years, I've been on a search for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe in the world.  There are claims of such all over the Internet, and I've tried many of them.   I don't make cookies that often, so it's taken awhile, but I think I've come up with the recipe I like best.  It's a combination of my long standing one I got from my sister, Joan and one from Alton Brown on Foodnetwork.com.  They are very similar recipes, but I just combined the parts I like best about each one.  They are soft and chewy in the center and a little crispy on the edges.
 There are some secrets to the perfect chocolate chip cookie:
1) Always melt the butter (and use real butter) in the recipe.  Melted butter makes the cookie so much better.
2) Always chill the dough in the refrigerator before you bake the cookies.
3) This recipe uses bread flour rather than all-purpose flour.  Bread flour has a slightly higher gluten content than all purpose (I'll probably get shot for saying that this day and age where everyone is anti-gluten.  Sigh.)  therefore the cookies puff up and get more chewy.  You can use all purpose flour in this recipe if you don't have bread flour, you just add a little more (about 1/4 cup more.)
4) Always add extra vanilla to your chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Vanilla is what makes them taste so yummy.
5) If you use salted butter, reduce the amount of salt.  Too much salt ruins chocolate chip cookies. This was my biggest complaint about many of the recipes that claimed to be the best: too much salt.  I've already adjusted this recipe to be made with salted butter.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe in the World
2 sticks butter (1 cup), melted
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 Tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/4 cups bread flour (if you use all purpose flour, add 1/4 cup)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups baking chips of choice .  You can use semi-sweet chocolate, milk chocolate, vanilla, etc.  My favorite is 1/2 semi-sweet and 1/2 vanilla chips.

In your mixer, combine the melted butter and the sugars until well blended.   Add the egg and egg yolk, milk, and vanilla and mix well.   Turn off the mixer and put in the bread flour, salt and baking soda.  Slowly incorporate the dry with the wet ingredients.  Stir in the chocolate baking chips.  Transfer the dough to an airtight container and refrigerate for several hours.  When ready to bake, heat the oven to 375.  On a parchment or silpat-lined baking sheet, scoop rounded scoops of dough.  Bake at 375 for only about 10 minutes.  Ovens vary, so check, taking them out just before you think they are done.  Cool on a wire rack.  Yum, yum, yum.  



4 comments:

Joan Morris said...

We'll have to try these. Cookies are my biggest temptation :)

Michelle said...

Oh wow. My mouth is watering. Those look amazing. What a great list of tips . . . I had no idea that you should melt the butter! Good to know!

Pal & Hatty said...

Yummy, yummy! Thanks for the cookie making tips!,

Kristen Mackrory said...

I was just looking for a good one earlier this week. Can't wait to try these.