The Chocolate Chip Cookie

To me, the chocolate chip cookie has always been associated with Cookie Monster. That blue furry monster who has this passion for cookies but his favorite has always been the chocolate chip cookie. I remembered one of the first real things I baked when I was a kid was the chocolate chip cookie. I remember reading the Toll House recipe and following it. Dotting all the "I"s and crossing the "T"s. However, although everyone else enjoyed it, I didn't. I always thought it needed something. Never knew what that was. As I got older, I discovered the variety of chocolate. The different cacaos and the difference in sweetness and bitterness. The different cacaos from all over the world and the things, the things you can create with this simple ingredient!!!! WOW!!! Now, taking all these different types of chocolate and putting into something so simple as...the chocolate chip cookie can heighten the cookie itself. Keep in mind I am not a fan of chocolate. However, I am a fan of the versatility of it.

Through the years, I've came across so many recipes, so many ways of creating this simple cookie that the Cookie Monster love so much. Yet, it seem unattainable to me to create one really good cookie. I am not saying I have perfected it...not yet. Although everyone who has had my chocolate chip cookies, love them. They may be bias, I am not sure but when people keep asking me for more, I am sure they love it. 

What is the perfect chocolate chip cookie? In my opinion, it should be chewy, soft interior, a slight crisp exterior. When you are chewing it, you should taste the sweetness from the sugars, the slight nuttiness from the butter, and the chocolate chips. Well the chocolate chips has to have this complex taste. It should give your taste buds a wake up call from all the slight bitterness, the sweetness, and a slight almost coffee like flavor when combined. 

The Chocolate Chip cookies

Now, keep in mind there are so many variances of the chocolate chip cookies. There are thin and crispy. There are thick and chewy. There are some with nuts and some without. There are some that only has one type of chocolate chip. So many ways to make this simple cookie.

Ready for consumption or...

Instead of using soften butter and creaming it with the sugars, I use slightly browned melted butter. When that has cool just a bit, I then pour it in with the brown sugar and regular sugar. I'll slightly mix it and let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes. Then continue creaming the butter sugar mixture for a few minutes. Now, I learned this recipe from Cook's Illustrated but I added some of my own things into it. I actually mess with the recipe that they had perfected. Again, perfection is ones' opinion. I did use the 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk. It helps the cookie's texture to stay chewy. Instead of using 1 type of chocolate chip. I use 3 different types. I use a bitter sweet-60% cacao, semi sweet, and white chocolate chips. I am thinking of using a higher cacao percentage but I am afraid few people will like it.

Add some creamy, cold, vanilla...

Now, there is something to be said about a good vanilla ice cream. It is plain, it is simple, and sometimes, those are the best! High end foods may sound great but at the end of the day, something so simple as vanilla ice cream is the best.

of the simple Vanilla Ice Cream

Take a good size scoop of ice cream

Take something so simple as vanilla ice cream and put it between two home made chocolate chip cookies, what do you get??? Delicious goody!

Place it between the two cookies

Enjoy the view

Gently squeeze together

Slowly enjoy the flavors

I don't ever get tired of making chocolate chip cookies. I actually don't get tired of making cookies period. There is something about it that creaming the butter, the sugars and slowly adding the rest of the ingredients, makes you feel like you creating a masterpiece of some sort. I have given this recipe to others and they all come back to me and say it never turned out the same way. I'll asked them if they followed the directions, if they did this, if they did that. They will answer yes to everything. Alas, maybe it is something I posses that makes these cookies unique. I don't know. But I'll let you decide on it.

Lisa's Chocolate Chip Cookies
***if you have a scale, weigh your ingredients. It does make a difference.

preheat oven to 325

2 1/8 cups bleached all-purpose flour (about 10 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda


12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melt 1 stick slightly brown it. Take off heat and add the remaining 1/2 stick and let cooled slightly

*1/2 cup brown sugar (1/2 cup light and 1/2 dark), 7 ounces (I use a equal combo of the brown sugars, if you want you can use 1 cup of light or 1 cup of dark)

1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract


1 - 2 cups chocolate chips or chunks (semi or bittersweet or white or a combination of)

Mix the dry ingredients together and set aside

Melt 1 stick of butter and let it brown. Take off the heat and add the remaining 1/2 stick and slowly stir it into the brown butter mixture to ensure that it all melts completely. Let it cool slightly.
Add the sugars and the slightly cool butter into a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment.

Mix for 1 minute then let the butter, sugar sit for about 5 minutes. After about 5 minutes, beat the mixture for about another 2 minutes, add the egg. Wait until it is mix thoroughly, then add the egg yolk. Mix thoroughly. Add the vanilla until it is well combined. Be sure to scrape the bowl down to make sure all the ingredients are mixed well.

With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time. When all the flour mixture is added, scrape the bowl down. The add the chocolate chips and mix together.

With an ice cream scoop or portion scoop (same thing) that equals to about 1/4 cup of measurement, scoop the dough, roll into a ball, and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. ***Place in fridge for about an hour or in the freezer for about 15 minutes. (If your fridge/freezer isn't able to hold the cookie sheet, you can place it on a plate or small cutting board).
The reasons behind this is to firm up the butter a bit so when it bakes, it doesn't spread out too quickly and become a thin cookie.

*** you can freeze them after it has been formed and place them in a freezer locked bagged for up to a month. You can refrigerate the dough for up to 2 days.

Bake at 325 for about 15-18 minutes rotating it halfway through. Take it out when it is slightly golden brown. Let it cool on the pan for about 10 minutes then transfer it to a cooling rack.

Let me know if you have any questions. I hope you enjoy the cookies.