This is not a food blog. But, I got a serious request for the recipe for chocolate chip cookies I’ve been baking since I was in elementary school. She reads my blog. There may be others who want the complete, scientific instructions.
These technical details promise the cookies will turn out terrific every time. The premier major alteration, which applies to most cookie recipes: one egg. Most recipes specify two eggs. Most recipes do when the fat content is about 1 cup. BUT only use one. When you use two, you will get a flat, non chewy cookie. My scientific theory is that eggs have gotten bigger over the years. Even reliable places for recipes like “Better Homes and Gardens” magazines often have 2 eggs listed as the ingredient in the cookies when it should be 1!
One egg! Second, quality ingredients. Real butter. Land O Lakes is my favorite. Generic butters are better than margarine but still not as good. Land O Lakes has introduced a new ‘European’ butter which has more fat. This makes an even better cookie than their regular butter. All butters are not the same.
Another tricky ingredient: brown sugar. I use the Domino brand: it kind of ‘cakes’ together and makes a better cookie.
And real vanilla. Sorry no picture. I love McCormick brand. It’s ridiculously expensive right now. But you need it for a delicious cookie.
Flour is important, too. I buy King Arthur brand all purpose unbleached flour. From my experience, with the white sugar, the salt, and the baking soda, which are in smaller quantities, brands don’t matter.
I almost forgot the chocolate chips! Sometimes I want milk chocolate chips, sometimes I like semi sweet. Or I mix them half and half. Or I throw in mini semi sweet chips. Nestles brand has been my favorite for fifty years. This dough is also good for M & M candies. Or my grandson likes to mix all the kinds of chips and candies into the dough. Have fun.
Another precise direction: use Airbake shiny aluminum cookie sheets, and only bake one tray at a time. Mrs. Otis taught me that when a cookie recipe has 1 cup of fat, you don’t need to grease the cookie sheets. She’s right. There’s so much fat they won’t stick to the sheet. Don’t over bake! Depending on how hot your oven is, 12 minutes; maybe more, maybe less. You have to watch them: when the tops are ‘cracking’ and the edges golden, they are ready to remove.
The Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, beat together: (by hand or mixer – I usually do it by hand)
1 cup Land O Lakes butter
3/4 cup packed Domino brown sugar
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
Mix together until fluffy and the sugar has ‘melted’ into the butter completely. (My friend Katherine Johnson used that term; it’s correct.) You could let the mixture sit for a few minutes, too . Then beat in
1 teaspoon of McCormick’s vanilla
Beat in the ONE egg
Combine 2 and 1/2 cup all purpose unbleached flour with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon baking soda.
Because you’re only using one egg, the dough may feel more stiff and thick than usual.
Stir 2 cups of chocolate chips or candies into the batter.
Mix together. Sometimes I ‘drop’ the dough onto the cookie sheets, sometimes I roll them into balls. Make them big enough but not too big… or you can make them quite big like they do at some grocery stores. You have to flatten those giant ones so they bake properly.
Bake for 12 minutes (?), until the edges look golden and the tops are starting to crack. Let them sit on the cookie sheet on a cooling rack for a minute so they hold together when you take them off.
There’s nothing worse than a stale cookie. My mother used to keep cookies in a tin on the counter! Not good. Zip the ones you’re not going to eat into baggies. Store them in the freezer. When you thaw them, they’ll still taste fresh. Not as great as right out of the oven. Nothing’s as good as that…
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