Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

The seemingly impossible? Oh, it’s possible.

Normally, I could take or leave a homemade chocolate chip cookie. But a soft and chewy bakery chocolate chip cookie? I can’t resist. I’m all about the consistency, and I don’t really care for crispy or crunchy cookies. Nuh-uh. No sir.

So when I came across the recipe for “Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies,” I knew I had to give them a try. Better known as the TCCCC by many of the bloggers I’ve seen, this cookie is perfection. The outside edges are firm, and the inside is moist and chewy… exactly the characteristics I covet in my favorite, irresistable bakery chocolate chip cookies.

I made these last night for a family party we went to today for Michael’s grandmother’s birthday. Of course, Michael and I were happy to sample them last night, and loved them. We had a hard time staying away from them. But I was eager to test them out on a crowd, and the party was a good place to start.

The verdict? Everyone loved them. Couldn’t believe they were homemade. Asked what the secret ingredient was to making them so fabulous.

The wife of one of Michael’s cousins came inside and said, “I’ll tell you one thing. My husband doesn’t eat dessert, but he just had two cookies.” I heard similar things throughout the evening.

Do yourselves a favor… make these cookies. And then get rid of them as quickly as possible (believe me, you won’t have trouble giving them away). They are addicting and they are dangerous!

I joked that I’m going to start selling them at work. Hungry for an afternoon snack? Want a delectable chocolate chip cookie?

Sorry, that’ll be $1.50. :)

These cookies are huge! Not the-size-of-your-head huge, but much bigger than the standard homemade cookies. I could only fit six cookies on each of my standard sized cookie sheets. The recipe makes 15-18 cookies.

I made two batches since we were going for a big party, and I knew people were likely going to want to take home leftovers. It was funny, I followed the recipe exactly the same way both times, and even weighed my ingredients and my dough balls… and still, I came out with a different yield each time. First batch? 15 cookies. Second batch? 18 cookies. With the first batch, I’ll admit I couldn’t help but sample a little bit of the dough, but three cookies worth of dough? No way. So I’m not sure what happened there.

Without further ado, I shall share this glorious recipe with all of you. Try it. Now. Right now.

Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Source: Baking Illustrated)

Makes approximately 18 large cookies

These oversized cookies are chewy and thick, like many of the chocolate chip cookies sold in gourmet shops and cookie stores. They rely on melted butter and an extra egg yolk to keep their texture soft. These cookies are best served warm from the oven but will retain their texture even when cooled. To ensure the proper texture, cool the cookies on the baking sheet. Oversized baking sheets allow you to get all the dough into the oven at one time. If you’re using smaller baking sheets, put fewer cookies on each sheet and bake them in batches.

Ingredients:

– 2 cups + 2 tbsp. (10 5/8 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour
– 1/2 tsp. baking soda
– 1/2 tsp. salt
– 12 tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
– 1 cup packed (7 oz.) light or dark brown sugar
– 1/2 cup (3 1/2 oz.) granulated sugar
– 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
– 2 tsp. vanilla extract
– 1 – 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips to taste.

4. Roll a scant 1/4 cup of the dough (since I weighed the dough, I did 2.2 oz. per cookie) into a ball. Hold the dough ball with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough’s uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart.

5. Bake until the cookies are light golden grown and the outer edges start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a side metal spatula.

Mmmm… cookies.