Saturday, March 15, 2014

flat and chewy chocolate chipped cookies


Stop! Slowly read these next sentences with all your might and attention. This...is...the...best...chocolate...chip...cookie...recipe...in...the...world. Got it? Good. Okay, I think we all know that nothing is better than a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. Chewy, chocolatey, and warm. Am I right or am I right. But no one likes those doughy dry mounds of crap people call cookies these days. That's why this week I'm bringing back the good ol' days with America's favorite cookie, The Chocolate Chip. 



Howard Taft. I approve of these cookies. In fact my pockets are full of them.

The best types of chocolate chip cookies are the flat and chewy ones. I even prefer them to be slightly bendable. That's the hallmark for a really good choco-chip. Not too sweet, and dotted with chips of chocolate. This recipe is all that and more. If you follow this recipe to the period, I can guarantee that you will be presented with a batch of the most perfect, classic chocolate chip cookies you have ever tasted and or seen. The ones Ben Franklin, and Howard Taft would be proud of. And you can be sure President Taft had a few cookies in his day.




But before I begin this recipe I want to set straight a stereotype that has been bugging me for quite a while. The truth, whether or not all grandmothers know how to make chocolate chip cookies. The answer is they do. In fact once a mother becomes a grandmother they are promptly possessed with the ability to create the perfect chocolate chip cookie. So in the spirit of pursuing the best chocolate chip cookie product I could possibly deliver to you, I kidnapped my grandma from Atlanta to help me with this week's chow-fection. (She's here. She is just a little camera shy.) Oh yes, Asian Grandmas make the best Chocolate Chip Cookies. Thank you Ah-ma for being here and helping me with the blog <3. 


First we'll prepare the dry ingredients. Measure out flour, baking soda, and salt and combine it in a bowl. Take 2 sticks of butter, that's 1 cup, and melt it slowly over low heat. I'm not sure if there's a scientific reason why you should melt it slowly but grandma said it so grandma got it. I do know that melting your butter, as opposed to leaving it cold or room temp, makes for a chewier cookie. And adding all the butter that we are, the cookie will melt down in the oven and become nice and flat. 



In another bowl add your brown and white sugars. Cream together your butter and sugar until barely incorporated. The key throughout this cookie making process is not to overwork the dough. Mix just enough to get by. The same concept goes for homework and chores. 


Traces of flour are okay because we still have to mix in the chocolate
Next add in an egg, your vanilla extract and milk. Slowly combine your dry ingredients on low speed. When you see that the only flour left is on the sides of the bowl stop mixing and switch to a spatula. Go through the dough to make sure all the flour has been mixed through. 



Now that we've finished the cookie part of this Chocolate Chip Cookie, we need to prepare the chocolate chips. After all this recipe is called Chocolate Chipped Cookies. Like Chipped as in chipping wood, and chip as in chocolate chip. Am I right. Okay enough with the bad puns...well seeing that I already put it in the name we can't really make it go away. Anyways take 2 cups of chips and chop them up on a cutting board. You're not looking for a super fine shaving, just small chunks of chocolate. I think this better distributes the chocolate throughout the cookie and gives it that chocolatey swirled finish. Once your happy with the size of your chips, mix it into the rest of the batter. Remember not to overmix.  



The last step is to leave it on the countertop to rest for an hour. This is another one of those steps that I just don't understand. Maybe the gluten in the flour has to rest. I don't know. All I know is that I don't know how these cookies would have turned out if I hadn't done this step so perhaps it was necessary. I guess it's just one of those unexplainable grandma magic steps that you have to comply with. \

While you're waiting wash the dishes, do your homework, take out the trash, oh my goodness I sound like my mom. Anyways, the point is your dough doesn't need to be babysat for the next hour so do something productive. Or you could prep your cookie sheet. Line your pan with aluminum foil and grease it up whichever method you choose. Either with the grease paper from your butter or with veggie oil spray. You don't need much to keep these from sticking because we have so much butter in the cookies themselves. 



With a normal ice cream scoop (About 1 1/2 tablespoons), you can yield 6-8 cookies per 9 by 13 inch pan. Do not try to be a hero and fit a dozen on a pan because these will spread out, quite a bit. You could, once you portion out your balls, roll them into perfect spheres so your cookies come out perfectly round but I'm far too busy to squander it on the inconsequential. Plus I can appreciate a rustic looking product, it's homemade after all. 



Wow, I would be jealous if I were you. Forced to read the end of this blog without a cookie. Good thing I'm not you. I'm actually eating a cookie right now as I type. Shoot all the keys are covered in chocolate. That's what I get for flaunting my cookie prosperity. But in complete seriousness these cookies are the BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies I have ever had. They perfectly embody those fresh warm grandmother cookies we all have grown to love and reminisce about in the middle of the night. The only difference is now you don't have to mark the one week out of the year that your grandmother comes to visit because now you can make these whenever you feel like it. So I really hope you all get your aprons on and make these cookies because your tummy will surely thank you. Thank you Ah-ma for the recipe and helping me today. I love you. And I love you all (Now I'm talking to you, my readers). See you next week with another chow-fection. And as always, 

Chow!



Recipe
2¼ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1¼ tsp kosher salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup granulated sugar
1½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips, chipped


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