Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are my all-time favorite.

For years, I used the Nestle Toll House cookie recipe on the back of their semisweet chocolate chips. With no disrespect to Ruth Graves Wakefield, who invented the recipe, they left a great deal to be desired.

I wanted a chocolate chip cookie with more body that was crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. For years, I searched for a recipe that would give me what I wanted.

Finally, it happened, I found The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe in Cook’s Illustrated All-Time Best Recipes, Foolproof Favorites from Cook’s Illustrated.

For me, what makes this recipe so amazing is you don’t need a mixer! Yes, that’s right. No mixer. However, there are a few adjustments, which follow, to the recipe that make this cookie the best.

--More brown sugar – using more brown sugar than white, makes for a chewier cookie.

--Brown, melted butter – melting butter contributes to chewiness; browning enhances flavor.

--One whole egg and 1 yolk – eliminating one egg white also boosts chewiness.

--Whisk and Wait – whisking sugar into the liquid ingredients and then waiting 10 minutes allows more of it to dissolve, creating better flavor and texture.

--More dough – using 3 tablespoons of dough per cookie increases the crispy-chewy contrast.*

*Using 3 tbsp. makes for a large cookie, which means 16 cookies. I dropped it down to 1 tbsp., saw no difference in the crispy-chewy contrast, and doubled the number of cookies.

This chocolate chip recipe delivers everything I’ve wanted in a chocolate chip cookie and yes, I probably have too much time on my hands, but I love to bake and want what I bake to be as good as I can make it.

While I would love to put the recipe on my blog, I’ve checked the America’s Test Kitchen’s website and didn’t see anything about not using this recipe without permission, but I prefer to err on the side of caution. However, the recipe is on their website.

Namaste,
Chris