For me, the chocolate chip cookie has no equal. It’s buttery, it’s sweet, it’s salty, it’s chewy, it’s chocolaty, it’s PERFECTION.
Now, I love a fancy chocolate chip cookie. Julie’s Doubletree Chocolate Chip Cookies, or Ree’s Triple Chocolate Cookies, or these Big Batch New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies. Sometimes though, you want the original—the back-of-the-bag, made-‘em-1,000-times chocolate chip cookies.
I have a few tips for making those original cookies into the best back-of-the-bag cookies you’ve ever made.
Use parchment paper and a sturdy, light-colored cookie sheet
Parchment paper promotes even browning and the cookies will come right off the sheet. For the cookie sheet, there’s no need to have a professional-grade, or super thick pan. You’ll want one that’s light in color, and study enough so you can’t bend it in half. Even though I always use parchment paper, I look for the sheets labeled as nonstick. They tend to be a good weight and color. Dark sheets will cause your cookies to over-brown.
Measure flour using the spoon and level method
Scoop flour into your measuring cup using a spoon until the flour goes over the rim. Use the side of the spoon to level the flour off. This ensures the precise amount of flour each time.
Cream the butter and sugars well
Cut the cool or cold butter into chunks, then beat with the white and brown sugars until totally combined and fluffy. You shouldn’t see any chunks of butter in the mixture.
Make a couple of additions
We’ll add a teaspoon more vanilla—more vanilla, more better. We’ll also add a teaspoon of baking powder. (The back of the bag recipe calls for only baking soda.) Baking powder is double-acting, which means it reacts with liquid and with heat. Adding it gives the cookies a little more oomph and keeps them from baking totally flat.
Chill the dough
You know when you make lasagna, or marinated tomatoes, or a batch of chili, and it always tastes better after a few hours or the next day because the flavors had a chance to marry? Same thing there. The liquids in the dough get soaked up by the flour more evenly. I don’t know why this makes for a better tasting cookie; it just does. Chilling the dough also helps to keep the cookies from spreading too much. This is another reason we add that teaspoon of baking powder. It’ll help with lift after the chill. Chill the dough for an hour or up to 48.
Use a cookie scoop
Have you ever baked cookies and had some on the pan finish baking while others were raw in the center? Using a cookie scoop means each cookie is the same exact size. I like a two-tablespoon scoop here.
Top them off
Before baking, add a few chocolate chips to the top of each cookie. These can be extra chips (I always have extra bags of chocolate chips open and available), or can be reserved from the bag before mixing. In addition, add just the tiniest pinch of sea salt to the top of each cookie. I’m telling you—that bit of salt is magical. It would make Hermione Granger proud. (I like Fleur de Sel or Maldon, but any sea salt will do.)
See how the cookies on the right with the extra chips look more appealing than the ones on the left?
Take them out a bit early
Remove the cookies from the oven when the edges are golden brown, but the center looks a bit underdone. It’s not raw or wiggly, but the center will look pale and a bit poofy. It’ll deflate and finish cooking on the pan before removing to a wire rack. Leave on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Use a cookie spatula
This thin, metal spatula is just the ticket for sliding underneath cookies. No squished, smooshed, or misshapen cookies here!
Does this picture make you ridiculously happy, or is it just me?
Use these tips and I guarantee you some delicious cookies with golden, crispy edges and bendable, chewy centers with pockets of melty chocolate. Ahhhhhh.
Do you have any chocolate chip cookie baking secrets? Do tell!
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