I have long had a love/hate relationship with incredibly yummy things such as brownies, cakes, cookies etc. Love because I love them. Hate because I hate what they can do to my body and health if I overindulge. During my journey of losing 35 pounds, I have had to rethink my relationship with food, and exercise. Have less of one (food) and more of the other (exercise).
Also, although I love to bake and have been very successful at baking many things, I have NEVER been able to master chewy chocolate chip cookies. I mean, lets face it. The Tollhouse recipe on the back of a bag of Tollhouse Chocolate Chips has NEVER worked well for me. They always come out thin, and hard and not too tasty. And from what I have seen online, many other bakers have been left wanting. Wanting big, soft, chewy, delicious cookies.
I have long been a fan of The Brown Eyed Baker, and The Smitten Kitchen, as well as other cooking/baking blogs. I came across a post on Brown Eyed Baker where she had a cookie throw-down, and although the winning recipe didn’t catch my eye, another one did. It was a recipe she had adapted from the Baking Illustrated Cookbook, and of course I have adapted it some as well, just to change things up. One thing I have learned from my years of baking wins and failures is that weighing baking ingredients makes for a better outcome than measuring them.
Trust me, these cookies come out thick, and chewy and gooey. I have NEVER been able to produce cookies this good before, and I now have my GO TO cookie recipe. Tired of waiting for the goods? Ok, here is the recipe, and I kid you not, these will be the cookies you will make from here on out!!
Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield: About 27 cookies
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (10 5/8 ounces) white whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup packed (7 ounces) light brown sugar
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1 1/2 cups dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray. (Since I always use my Pampered Chef stones, I never have to worry about this step. Nothing ever sticks to those bad girls!)
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips to taste.
4. Put 1 and a half tablespoons of dough onto your baking sheet. I made sure there was some texture (I didn’t pat them down), so they look more like “bakery” cookies. Space them about 2 inches apart.
5. Bake until the cookies are light golden grown, about 15 minutes. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a side metal spatula. I placed them on the counter on a piece of parchment paper to cool.
Note: These oversized cookies are chewy and thick, like many of the chocolate chip cookies sold in gourmet shops and cookie stores. They rely on melted butter and an extra egg yolk to keep their texture soft. These cookies are incredible while still warm from the oven but are just as yummy when cooled.
(Recipe adapted from The Brown Eyed Baker)
Ingredients:
(Sorry about the shadow).
Mix wet ingredients:
Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients:
Add choc chips:
Bake and YUMMMMM!!!
(They didn’t last long)
But the great thing is they were so easy to whip up, that I can make them anytime and can freeze them in individual baggies for a treat that is just enough!
ENJOY!!!