A classic chocolate chip cookie is chewy, soft and loaded with chocolate. But there are many ways to upgrade this classic recipe.
For example, brown sugar adds a toasty flavor and chewiness to the cookie. You can also use a combination of dark and graduated sugars.
Butter
Browning the butter is one of the best ways to add a deep, nutty flavor that will really enhance your chocolate chip cookies. It’s also an easy way to make your dough soft and chewy.
To brown the butter, melt it over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir constantly until the butter begins to foam and turn a lovely golden brown, emitting a nutty aroma.
Once the butter is browned, remove from the heat and allow it to cool. The butter should be just about at room temperature before mixing with the rest of the ingredients in the recipe.
The next step is to combine the cooled browned butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and granulated sugar with the eggs, vanilla, and flour. Using an electric mixer, beat the mixture until combined.
After the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, fold in the chocolate chips. Then chill the dough in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours before baking.
These cookies are great for Christmas exchanges or a quick dessert on any day! They are just as delicious as they are chewy and full of chocolate chunks.
The only thing that you need to be careful of is that the cookies can lose their perfectly circular shape in the oven if you let them bake too long. This is an easy fix if you take your spatula and push in the edges of the cookie while it is still hot!
Sugar
The sugar in a chocolate chip cookie recipe helps the dough spread more, adds flavor, and creates the right texture. But too much sugar can make cookies flat and dry.
The best chocolate chip cookie recipes use granulated sugar, which adds a sweet flavor, aids in browning properties, and softens the dough during baking. Some people also use demerara sugar, which is a type of cane sugar that has large grains. Muscovado sugar, which contains molasses, adds a nutty, toffee-like flavor.
You can also substitute coconut sugar or powdered sugar in a chocolate chip cookie recipe. However, these types of sugar are much less sweet than granulated sugar and may affect the overall flavor of the cookies.
Brown sugar, on the other hand, is a good choice for chocolate chip cookies because it holds more moisture than white sugar. It caramelizes at a lower temperature and absorbs more water than sucrose. It also prevents sugar from recrystallizing on cooling, which makes cookies chewy and tender.
Another way to alter the texture of a chocolate chip cookie recipe is to use brown butter. Cooking the butter beyond its melting point causes the milk solids to toast, which releases a rich nutty flavor and deepens the color of the dough. You can use a little more than a tablespoon of brown butter in a chocolate chip cookie recipe, but be sure to measure the amount correctly – you don’t want the dough to be too dark or too light.
Eggs
Eggs are an important part of a chocolate chip cookie recipe because they help bind the ingredients together and add moisture. They also help to maintain the shape of the cookie and make it soft and chewy.
Adding an extra egg yolk to a chocolate chip cookie recipe can make it even softer and chewier. According to Serious Eats, this is because the egg yolk alters the structure of the dough by shortening the gluten strands and making the dough more tender.
This makes them softer and less crunchy than traditional cookies, which may be an option for those with allergies to wheat or dairy. However, you should be aware that adding too much egg yolk can result in overly spongy cookies.
You can also replace the eggs with other ingredients, such as yogurt or mashed bananas. These substitutes won’t be as thick or viscous as an egg, but they will provide sufficient moisture to bind the dough.
Another option is to substitute a combination of oil and water, which will give your cookies more moisture and help them hold their shape. This is especially useful when using dry, hard flour.
Vanilla
While chocolate is the star of a great chocolate chip cookie recipe, vanilla gives it added flavor and helps to bring out the taste of the chips. This makes the cookies even more delicious.
The key to a great cookie is creaming the butter and sugar properly with an electric mixer. It will make the cookies lighter in color and fluffy.
If you don’t have an electric hand mixer, you can use a stand mixer instead. This will make the process a lot quicker, but you should still beat the butter and sugar until it is well-creamed.
Once the butter and sugar are well-creamed, add the eggs one at a time. Be sure to beat the eggs thoroughly until they are incorporated into the batter.
After the egg is incorporated into the batter, stir in the dry ingredients. This will make the dough easier to handle and scoop.
Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts if you are using them. Then, scoop out the dough with a medium ice cream scoop and place on the baking sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
For a healthier version of these cookies, replace the butter with neutral flavored vegetable oil (i.e., canola or corn). This will lower the saturated fat content and help to make the cookies more healthful.
Flour
Using the right type of flour is a big part of making the perfect chocolate chip cookie. The kind of flour you use can make a huge difference in the texture and flavor of your cookies.
For this recipe, we’re going with plain all-purpose flour because it gives the cookies a smooth, tender texture. It’s also gluten-free so those with dietary restrictions won’t be disappointed.
The best way to measure your flour is by weight, so you can ensure that you’re measuring it properly. Typically, American recipes are measured by volume (using a measuring cup) rather than by weight (using a kitchen scale). This can make all the difference in whether your cookies turn out cake-like or chewy and dry!
Once you’ve figured out the flour, it’s time to mix everything together. You’ll want to beat the butter and sugars until they’re light, fluffy, and pale in color.
This step is very important because it helps the butter cream with the sugars. It’s also an excellent way to develop the toasty, buttery flavors that make these cookies so delicious.
Once the butter is well creamed with the sugars, you’ll add the eggs and vanilla extract. Then you’ll combine the flour and baking soda in with the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Bake until the edges are golden and the centers are still soft, 9 to 12 minutes.
Chocolate Chips
A chocolate chip cookie is one of the most iconic desserts in the world. They’re soft and chewy, full of chocolate, and they’re super easy to make.
The secret to a great chocolate chip cookie is two-fold: using melted butter and adding lots of chocolate chips! We use a combination of semisweet and dark chocolate chips here. But you can also use milk or white chocolate if you prefer.
Another key ingredient in our chocolate chip cookie recipe is baking soda. Baking soda is a leavening agent, meaning it helps the cookies rise and become puffy. Adding just a small amount of baking soda can add a subtle lift to the cookie without overpowering the flavor.
To help the dough hold its shape, roll it into tall and lumpy balls before you bake them. This technique gives the cookies a bakery-style texture that’s more like a cake batter than a traditional cookie.
This is a very simple recipe that uses just a few ingredients. It doesn’t need a mixer, and you can mix and bake them in less than 20 minutes!
You can even freeze the dough balls to make them easier to bake later. Just be sure to chill them for about an hour before baking so that they’re firm enough to get a nice crisp bottom. This will also prevent them from spreading too much while they bake, which can cause flat cookies.
