Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
I love a good chocolate chip cookie (Actually I love any cookie). For some reason, though, I never bake the chocolate chip kind. I knew I had to change this, so off to the kitchen I ran went.
I saw this recipe on one of my daily viewings of Brown Eyed Baker (Yes, I realize that I have a food blog problem). It is very simple and I had all of the ingredients already in my kitchen (Butter! Flour! Sugar! Score!!!).
But! There was one teeny problem...
I didn't have unsalted butter but I did have salted. What's the difference between the two? There are several actually. Unsalted butter has a shorter shelf life than the salted kind. Why? The salt that is present in the salted butter acts like a preservative of sorts (think salted meats and fish before refrigerators). In addition, the salty flavor can be extremely overpowering in desserts.
So what do you do? Just omit any extra salt that is in the recipe. The recipe I adapted originally called for 1/4 teaspoon of salt so I just omitted it from the cookies and used the salted butter. I don't know if I would say that this trick would work 100% of the time because your recipe may not call for any salt, but if you are in a pinch, it's a good substitute. I'll write the correct recipe, but also include the substitution. If you are really curious about butter, you can read more here.
Like I mentioned above, these cookies are super soft. The amount of brown sugar versus white sugar helps to get them chewy and delcious. Crunchy cookie lovers beware!
Chocolate chips! I honestly think you can add chocolate chips to ANYTHING. Cookies, brownies, muffins, gym shoes.
Wanna go crazy? Make it dark chocolate!
Michelle from Brown Eyed Baker mentions an interesting technique to give your cookie that craggly-rough-ish, but at the same time beautiful, look. Below is a step by step guide that I borrowed from Brown Eyed Baker. I would definitely recommend trying this. I loved the way my cookies looked after they were baked.
Just in case you were interested, here is a picture of one of my pulled apart, smashed together dough balls.
Make these.
Don't wait.
I promise you won't be sorry.
Unless of course you like crunchy cookies.
Then, I feel sorry for you ;)
Drink with milk. Share with a friend. Enjoy.
Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (lightly adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)
Makes about 9 large or 12 regular cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cups plus 1 tablespoons (about 5.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm**
- 1/2 cup packed (about 3.5 ounces) light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (about 1.75 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 - 3/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
**Or use same amount of salted butter and omit 1/4 teaspoon salt**
Method
- Adjust oven rack to upper and lower middle positions. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet pan (or 2 if you have smaller ones) with foil or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside
- Beat melted butter and brown and white sugars in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer until combined. Add egg and vanilla, mix until smooth. Add flour mixture, mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips (I used 1/2 cup), to taste.
- Roll a scant (little less than) 1/4 cup of dough into a ball. Pull the dough ball evenly apart with fingertips and rotate 90 degrees. With jagged surface on top (facing out) push the dough ball back together forming a single dough ball. Repeat with remaining dough. Be careful not to smooth the uneven surface of the dough. Place the prepared dough balls, jagged surface up, on the baking sheet, about 2-1/2 inches apart.
- Bake until the cookies are light, golden brown. The centers will be soft and puffy, but the edges should be set, 15 to 18 minutes. Halfway through baking, rotate the baking sheet(s) from front to back and top to bottom. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets and remove from baking sheets with a metal spatula.