CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
I think I have to say that we make our fair share of chocolate chip cookies in our house. We always have cookies in our house…I don’t think our cookie jar is ever empty. Through the years I have tweaked so many recipes and trust me…..I have tried too too many. I also add whatever I have in my pantry to my chocolate chip cookies. If I don’t have cornstarch…like tonight…then I would add BREAD FLOUR or just keep it simple and double up on all purpose flour instead. This is some of the 411 of chocolate chip cookies that I have learned through the years.
****Under baked cookies are the secret to softness. Using cornstarch in the dough is another secret to softness, as well as the secret to thickness. Bread flour gives you a chewy texture. Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie. Adding an extra egg yolk increases chewiness. Rolling the cookie dough balls to be taller than wider increases thickness. Using melted butter (and slightly more flour) increases chewiness. Chilling the dough results in a thicker cookie.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup Bread Flour
3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup White Sugar
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar tightly packed
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Expresso Powder —optional
1 Egg Yolk
1 Egg
1 cup Melted UNSALTED BUTTER (optional–brown the butter)
1 cup SEMISWEET Chocolate chip
3/4 cup Dark Chocolate (roughly chopped–using a serrated knife)
****The best way to measure your flour for this recipe is to gently spoon it into your measuring cup (don’t use your measuring cup to scoop up the flour — that packs it in and can cause you to overmeasure) and then use a straight edge (like the back of a knife) to level off the excess.
HOW TO BROWN BUTTER:
Melt the butter: Melt the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Swirl the pan occasionally to be sure the butter is cooking evenly.
Watch carefully: As the butter melts, it will begin to foam. The color will progress from lemony-yellow to golden-tan to, finally, a toasty-brown.
Remove to a heatproof bowl: Once you smell that nutty aroma, and the butter is the color of graham cracker crumbs, take the pan off the heat and let it cool before you add to the cookie mixture.
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degree. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper or silpat silicone baking mat.
Sift together the bread flour and all purpose flour, baking soda and salt…then set aside while you work with the wet ingredients.
In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter (if you are using the brown butter–let it cool), brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla extract, egg, egg yolk, and expresso powder until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips and chunks by hand using a wooden spoon. If you don’t want to chill the cookie dough. Then drop cookie dough 1/4 cup or using a small ice cream scoop at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
Bake for 12-14 minutes in the oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
