Yes, yet another recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Don't be surprised if at some point, I post another one, and another one. It's good to have choices, don't you think?
This makes me think of the time when I was a kid, my grandfather lived just down the road. He had a mighty sweet tooth, and I loved baking cookies for him. I had made a handwritten notebook of our favorite family recipes in a red folder, which included a few different versions of chocolate chip cookies. I wrote out the Nestle Toll House and the Hershey's recipes from the back of the packages of chocolate chips. What was interesting is that, because I come from a large family, I wrote the recipes out in columns for the recipe in single, doubled, tripled, and even the quadrupled recipes. If I was making some for my grandfather, I had to make some for us, too! My dad had a mighty sweet tooth, as well.
When I would ask my mother if I could bake my grandfather some chocolate chip cookies, I'd ask her "Should I make the Nestle Toll House recipe, or the Hershey's recipe?". We seemed to think we could taste the difference between the two. We also had a different versions of chocolate chip cookies that included oatmeal, and even one that included Rice Krispies, called Jumble Cookies, which actually, were quite good. (See recipe here.)
For the most part, I think that most chocolate chip cookies taste the same (unless of course, you get them from a bakery!); but you can find plenty of people online claiming that their recipe is indeed, THE best. It all seems to come down to whether you melt the butter or not, the ratio of granulated sugar to brown sugar, what type of flour you use, or whether you chill the dough for hours or not, etc. I've read somewhere that to make a truly good chocolate chip cookie, it needs both baking soda AND baking powder. That is the reason I am posting this recipe, because this one has both. In the end, I'll let you be the judge on how good these cookies really are.
There is an interesting video online that tests the recipes used by an "amateur chef" vs a "home cook", vs a "professional chef", or "expert" that are in the end, critiqued by a "food scientist". It is on the Epicurious YouTube channel. They test out other recipes in the same fashion. Check it out.
The comments below in red, are mine.
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1 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 tsp vanilla (Heck, why not use the whole tsp? :)
3 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter well. Add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Add one of the eggs and vanilla and beat well. Add the other egg, and beat just until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix gently, just until it is barely incorporated. Do not over mix, or you could toughen the cookies. (Note: this I have heard of before ... over mixing the flour can develop the gluten in the flour, resulting in dry cookies.) The dough should be moist still and should hold together.
4. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Drop about 2 tbsp of dough by spoonful, or roll into balls, placing them on the lined cookie sheets. Do not flatten them. Bake 350 degrees in the center of your oven, for 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown. (Note: Up to 14 minutes seems like a long baking time. It might be best to test a couple out, first. I do know that if you bake your cookies too long, they will harden more after they've cooled. Therefore, is best to slightly under bake them, since they continue to bake after you've removed them from the oven and while they are slightly cooling on the cookie sheet.)
6. Remove cookies from baking sheet and allow to cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.
If you are so inclined, check out this tutorial to making the best chocolate chip cookies. I actually like her website. While you may not necessarily learn anything new from the tutorial, it is an interesting read.
This makes me think of the time when I was a kid, my grandfather lived just down the road. He had a mighty sweet tooth, and I loved baking cookies for him. I had made a handwritten notebook of our favorite family recipes in a red folder, which included a few different versions of chocolate chip cookies. I wrote out the Nestle Toll House and the Hershey's recipes from the back of the packages of chocolate chips. What was interesting is that, because I come from a large family, I wrote the recipes out in columns for the recipe in single, doubled, tripled, and even the quadrupled recipes. If I was making some for my grandfather, I had to make some for us, too! My dad had a mighty sweet tooth, as well.
When I would ask my mother if I could bake my grandfather some chocolate chip cookies, I'd ask her "Should I make the Nestle Toll House recipe, or the Hershey's recipe?". We seemed to think we could taste the difference between the two. We also had a different versions of chocolate chip cookies that included oatmeal, and even one that included Rice Krispies, called Jumble Cookies, which actually, were quite good. (See recipe here.)
For the most part, I think that most chocolate chip cookies taste the same (unless of course, you get them from a bakery!); but you can find plenty of people online claiming that their recipe is indeed, THE best. It all seems to come down to whether you melt the butter or not, the ratio of granulated sugar to brown sugar, what type of flour you use, or whether you chill the dough for hours or not, etc. I've read somewhere that to make a truly good chocolate chip cookie, it needs both baking soda AND baking powder. That is the reason I am posting this recipe, because this one has both. In the end, I'll let you be the judge on how good these cookies really are.
There is an interesting video online that tests the recipes used by an "amateur chef" vs a "home cook", vs a "professional chef", or "expert" that are in the end, critiqued by a "food scientist". It is on the Epicurious YouTube channel. They test out other recipes in the same fashion. Check it out.
The comments below in red, are mine.
1 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 tsp vanilla (Heck, why not use the whole tsp? :)
3 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter well. Add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Add one of the eggs and vanilla and beat well. Add the other egg, and beat just until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix gently, just until it is barely incorporated. Do not over mix, or you could toughen the cookies. (Note: this I have heard of before ... over mixing the flour can develop the gluten in the flour, resulting in dry cookies.) The dough should be moist still and should hold together.
4. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Drop about 2 tbsp of dough by spoonful, or roll into balls, placing them on the lined cookie sheets. Do not flatten them. Bake 350 degrees in the center of your oven, for 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown. (Note: Up to 14 minutes seems like a long baking time. It might be best to test a couple out, first. I do know that if you bake your cookies too long, they will harden more after they've cooled. Therefore, is best to slightly under bake them, since they continue to bake after you've removed them from the oven and while they are slightly cooling on the cookie sheet.)
6. Remove cookies from baking sheet and allow to cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.
If you are so inclined, check out this tutorial to making the best chocolate chip cookies. I actually like her website. While you may not necessarily learn anything new from the tutorial, it is an interesting read.
The Ultimate Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies by Tessa, from Handle the Heat cooking blog. She's got a lot of great-looking recipes there. Check out her site.
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