The 12 Days of Cookies, Day 2: Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pretty maids all in a row

Don't judge a book by its cover.  This is a lesson I learned the day I got my beloved gun-metal gray Kitchen Aid stand-mixer.

Everyone who has ever gotten a kitchen implement, gadget, tool, notion, or widget knows that most of them come with a booklet that, along with some basic assembly and care instructions, comes with a few recipes. I usually try one or two of these since A) I am anxious to use the thing in question, and 2) I figure someone or other has tested this recipe a few times to be sure the device will successfully deliver the goods even if some half-wit uses it.

It was with this philosophy in mind that I flipped through the really quite elaborate booklet that came with said mixer and came across what looked to be your bog-standard Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  Since it had ingredients I, like most home bakers, have on hand, and figuring in my honest affection for a nice Toll-House style cookie (minus the nuts, please), I put the eggs in some hot tap water, put the cold butter in the microwave for 2 mintues on 10% power*, and commenced to measuring.

Ohmygodyouguys... these cookies were so freaking good. I am an inveterate dough and batter eater, and when I tasted the raw stuff from this recipe, I honestly wondered how they could taste any better.  Then I baked them.  Ohmygodyouguys.

At around the 9 minute mark, they come out of the oven just a little underdone in the middle for that soft-batch kind of feeling, and near 12 minutes they have just the right amount of crispness so you don't need a glass of milk to soak them in to prevent you from breaking a tooth. 

Now, I'm not a guy to skimp on ingredients: I use very good vanilla and the best chocolate (within reason) that I can get my hands on, but I've literally made these with store-brand extract and good old Nestle's Semi-Sweet Morsels, and they are still amazing. Forget the New York Times, Neiman-Marcus, and Thomas Keller's recipes: my Best In Show award goes to the Kitchen Aid test kitchen.

*This is a wonderful method for getting butter to just under room temperature without melting it.

BEST EVER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

It might seem funny to make such a big deal out of plain old chocolate chip cookies, but these are worth it. And besides, I want to have access to this recipe from the nearest internet outlet. You know... in case of emergencies.

If I were a better food scientist I'd know why this apparently run-of-the-mill combination of your typical cookie ingredients yields such perfect cookies time and again. Of course, I think the quality of the ingredients makes a big difference... garbage in/garbage out as my programmer friends would say. So, once you've tried them with your standard supermarket offerings, wow your friends with a batch made with some nice Irish butter, Madagascar vanilla, and Guittard chocolate. It couldn't hurt, am I right?

Whatever the shopping list, resist the urge to eat all of the batter before baking, or at least save some for your significant other like I find I have to. Let the batter sit for a while (even ovenight) wrapped or well covered in the fridge for an even better taste.  Or form and freeze the cookies for up to 3 weeks before baking -- freeze them on a sheet tray (they can be close, but not touching), and transfer them to a freezer bag or another air-tight container once they are reasonably solid.  There's no need to adjust the oven temperature or baking time. Just keep an eye on them from minutes 10-12 and take them out when they look almost like you want them to -- remember they keep baking for a bit even after coming out of the oven.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup (two sticks) salted butter, softened (unsalted is OK, too, but I like salted better for this)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1½ tsp good vanilla extract

• 12 oz (one standard-sized bag) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 375ºF if baking the cookies right away.  In a meduim bowl, whisk the flour, soda, and salt together, and set aside.

Place sugars, butter, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. With a hand or stand mixer, mix on low for 30 seconds or so to combine and loosen them up. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix on medium high speed for another 30 seconds. You want to cream the ingredients until they are nicely combined and the batter is looking pale, a little fluffy and otherwise uniformly mixed. 

Add the dry ingredients to the batter in 2 or 3 batches, waiting for most of the flour to disappear before adding the next bit. Scrape down bowl, and mix in the chocolate chips until just distributed. Let batter rest if possible; overnight is best, but baking right away is OK, too.

With a 1 or 2 Tablespoon ice cream or cookie scoop, or with a tea spoon, drop rounded mounds of dough onto a prepared sheet pan (lined with a silcon mat or parchement, or lightly greased with butter or shortening), placed about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the sides begin to brown and the tops give a little but bounce back when touched with your finger.  The cookies will puff up a bit, but will flatten out when out of the oven. Cool on the baking sheet set on a cooling rack for 5-7 minutes, then remove from the sheet and cool the cookies completely on the wire rack.

Makes around 2-3 dozen cookies; store at room temperature for up to 4 days.

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Listen while you work!

Everybody's Waitin' for the Man with the Bag

Kay Starr

How about another jazzy diva tune today from the same sampler album as yesterday's. This time we're visiting the late Big Band era with the incomparable Kay Starr, with what is to me the definitive version of "Man with the Bag." Sorry Vonda Shepard!  You're good and all, but Kay Star is the original.

Comments

[Yasmin]

Now, are these as good as Christine's chocolate chip cookies? I'm not a huge fan of cookies....period....but Christine's cookies are worth IMMERSING oneself into...they're THAT good!

[Kyle Minor]

Yas... just TRY them. I DOUBLE DOG DARE you.

[Big Sister]

I made these yesterday and was surprised by many things. One, the flavor is much closer to a cookie that you would buy at a cookie bakery (I am thinking Anthony's on Valencia) than a home-baked cookie. I don't know if this was due to the change in vanilla (Xanath) or the chemistry of the ingredients or that I let the batter sit for a spell. Two, I got so many cookies out of this batch. I baked nearly three dozen and froze dough for two more dozen. This was probably because I scooped a more consistent ball with a Tablespoon than my typical willy-nilly glob with a spoon. Three, when using the Tollhouse or the Joy recipe I always find myself having to add flour after the first batch as the cookies flatten and I end up with big, flat cookies. I did not need to do this with these, they kept their shape really well. All in all, a success! Thank you!

[Kyle Minor]

So glad you like them, Nic!  Now I have to go to Xanath and buy some of their vanilla extract.

Save some of that saved dough, and we'll bake them up when we return to SF!

[Big Sister]

Will do! I can bring them to VRB at Bar Tartine.