I know, this post has quite a lofty title to live up to, but I think it does!
I’m continually tweaking recipes. I spent about six months perfecting my malted milk chocolate chip cookies, honed my butter browning skills to create my mint dark chocolate chip cookie recipe, and won’t tell you how many batches of black bean soup I made before I felt confident enough to post that recipe.
All this to say, baking and cooking science fascinates me. Different flours have varying protein contents, adding air in increments to butter and sugar mixtures changes the texture of a cookie, smoking meat with different types of wood chips totally changes the flavor, and various spices bring out different flavor notes in a soup.
The ratio of white sugar to brown sugar, types of flour, and amount of butter and vanilla extract are what makes these chocolate chip cookies the best I’ve ever baked.
I like a soft, chewy chocolate chip cookie, so here was my approach:
-2 sticks of butter (more butter results in a thin cookie, and less makes a more “cakey” cookie)
-More brown sugar than granulated (more granulated than brown makes a crisp cookie, and less sugar in general makes a light and airy cookie)
-Bread flour helps to make the cookies chewy
-Cake flour helps to make the cookies have a soft texture
-Two teaspoons of vanilla extract highlights the sugars in the cookies
Okay, enough science. Let’s get to the recipe!
Ingredients
1 cup bread flour
1 1/4 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions
1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk flours, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until fully combined.
3. Stir in flour mixture until just combined.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
7. Drop tablespoon-sized balls of dough about 2 inches apart onto baking sheets and baking for 8 to 10 minutes, or until cookies are golden but still soft.
8. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool and enjoy!
Living My Full Life 