This is the soft and chewy base recipe for producing a thick, hard to stop eating chocolate chip cookie. Thanks to Sally's Cookie Addiction book for this recipe!
This is definitely a go-to recipe when needing to whip up a delicious chocolate chip cookie. You can modify it so many different ways, making it feel like a totally new cookie every time you make it. So let's get started...
Melt your butter and set it aside to cool a bit. Then whisk together your dry ingredients and set aside. Scoop, measure, and level your flour. Always.
It's crazy how much more flour you can accidentally add to your baking by not using this method. If you doubt me...try it for yourself sometime. Use a kitchen scale...scoop your cup measure into the bag of flour, level it, and put it in a bowl on the scale. Do that a couple of times. Check out how much it weighs. Now pour it back in the bag. Fluff up the flour. Scoop lightly with a spoon into your cup measure now. Level and pour into bowl on scale same as before. It can be HUNDREDS of grams out!
OK back to the recipe...whisk your butter and sugars til smooth. Whisk in the whole egg plus extra yolk and vanilla until combined. Then add the dry mix to the wet until just combined. Then throw in your add ins.
For the basic cookie that everyone loves, add your chocolate chips and chill and bake. To change things up...add things like a 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 cup chocolate chips of any kind, and 3/4 cup chopped pecans...as I did in the pictures here. Or try some little coated candies like Smarties, Reese Peanut Butter chips, crushed potato chips, chopped walnuts, orange zest/white chocolate chips/dried cranberries and on and on and on...
Whichever version of these cookies you make...I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
Please let me know how they turned out for you! Leave a comment below! I'd love to hear from you
Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsps cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk, room temp
2 tsps vanilla
1 1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
(pictured above is using 1 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 3/4 cup chopped pecans)
Directions
Whisk flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt together in a bowl and set aside
In a large bowl, whisk the melted/slightly cooled butter with the brown and white sugars until no lumps remain. Whisk in the egg and yolk and vanilla until combined
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until it just comes together.
Stir in add ins. Dough will be soft.
Chill the dough for at least 2 hours. At least! If chilled longer than 3 hours...take out and let sit on counter for a half hour
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats
Use a cookie scoop (do not flatten cookie balls) and bake 9 cookies at a time for best spacing and heat circulation
Bake for 11 minutes. You can bake at a lower temp for longer...but this worked best for my oven. Cookies still look a little soft but slightly browned around the edges
Remove from oven and let cool on sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.