Who Doesn’t Love Chocolate Chip Cookies?
The answer is me. Well, that’s not 100% true. I’m just not the biggest fan of chocolate. However, it’s such a classic that you can’t not at least like them. So with all that I do in the kitchen, I have to perfect the technique and have a go to recipe. I don’t know why I’m like this, but I mean… what are we gonna do right?
Anyway, so in search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, I had no choice but to turn to one of thee GOATs, Alton Brown. Don’t debate me. Argue amongst yourselves!
Anyway, back to Alton. So because his steak recipe is now my standard for steaks (post about that later), I wondered if he had a chocolate chip cookie recipe and of course he did. I made it with some slight differences. I used all purpose flour instead of bread flour, liked it. I made them again with my godbabies, messed them up by adding too much milk, and my brother loved that. I also messed up bu only adding one stick of butter instead of two for a while, and honestly, it wasn’t that bad. After all of that, I decided to keep on tweaking until I have a recipe that I love. To be honest, I'm still tweaking it and this is where I've landed so far.
First, you need a food scale. Weighing your ingredients when baking is more precise and it changes the game honestly. Secondly, you’re gonna need some bread flour. Another game changer. Don’t be worried about just having flour you won’t use. You’ll be making these cookies often.
I try not to keep dairy milk in the house because me and lactose are mortal enemies (but if you see me eating mac & cheese, mind your lavender business), but I have a husband who likes it, but in the event we don’t at cookie making time, I use dairy free. I have tried almond milk, evaporated milk, and even non dairy coffee creamer. What really took my cookies over the top was chocolate non dairy coffee creamer. Listen, I know I said I’m not the biggest fan of chocolate, but something about that little touch really did it for me. Too bad it was a seasonal flavor. Anywho, what I’m trying to say here is that if you don’t have dairy milk, you have some options.
So some other things that make baking cookies easier is an air filled cookie sheet and parchment paper. It’s what my grandma used to bake with so this is what I use too. But to me, it’s that bit of space that makes sure that there’s even cooking and it doesn’t feel like it’s just getting direct heat. I’m sure there’s a science behind it that now I need to look into. Another thing that would help you have even sized cookies is a scoop, not an ice cream scoop, but the one with piece inside that helps to remove the contents. Last thing, make sure to take out your cold ingredients (eggs, milk) at least an hour before you plan to mix, so they come to room temperature. This is also important. No one wants curdled food.
Enough chatting, here’s the recipe (adapted from Alton Brown’s The Chewy)
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
6 oz all purpose flour
6 oz bread flour
1 whole large egg
1 egg yolk
8 oz light brown sugar (if you have dark, it’s fine but it makes the cookies darker)
2 oz white sugar
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon kosher salt (very important)
¼ c milk of your choice
Chocolate chips/chunks, nuts, etc. Whatever you want, how much you want
Sift your dry ingredients together. No sifter? Put them in a bowl and use a whisk for about a minute.
Melt the butter and let is cool for a bit (not until it’s solid again, just not super hot). Put the melted butter in the bowl of your mixer with the sugars. Mix until well combined.
Add the eggs one at a time to the sugar & butter mixture. Don’t overmix, just mix until combined.
Add the flour mixture to your wet mixture, and alternately add the milk (like add about ½ c of flour, then a little milk). Don’t overmix the flour because you don’t want to have a tough cookie.
Add your nuts, chocolate, etc., and mix until everything is combined (should take maybe 30 seconds).
Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.
After you have refrigerated your dough, preheat your oven to 375 F while you prep your cookie sheets, by putting a piece of parchment paper on your cookie sheets and getting your scoop ready.
Scoop your cookies on a sheet, about 6 per sheet depending on the size of your cookie sheet, keeping space between them.
Bake for about 10 or so minutes.
Cool on a rack before inhaling. They are going to be delicious.
Congratulations on making cookies! You did it!
Let me know your thoughts, or if you made them and how they turned out below! I want to know!!!
