Pretty Perfect (in my humble opinion) Chocolate Chip Cookies
These Cookies Won Best of Boston A Multitude of Times
Actually, I met the father of my children, Richard, 42 years ago (OMG!) when he came into my Cambridge bakery one day to purchase one!
Of all the products I sold throughout the years, these cookies were hands down the biggest seller. There is something just so inherently American about a chocolate chip cookie… like it’s somehow imbedded in our psyche soon after we enter the world. And in my 40 years at Rosie’s, I literally never got tired of breaking off a little piece of a just-baked cookie. I had to keep it at that or I might have been in danger of way “over-indulging”.
I know people who like their chocolate chip cookies totally crunchy, but I would say MOST people like chewy centers surrounded by crispy edges. These cookies can take either form simply by how long you bake them. So you can satisfy anyone with the same batch. I actually like to freeze the scoops before baking so as to produce a somewhat thicker, chewier-centered cookie with darker edges, but it is something you can surely fool around with to see what works best for you.
The Recipe
Makes 24 large cookies
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoons salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon lightly packed brown sugar
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs (at room temp if possible)
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
Preheat your oven to 385° and line a baking sheets (depending on their size) with parchment paper or grease them lightly with butter or vegetable oil.oil.
Place the flour, soda, and salt together in a small bowl
Cream the butter, both sugars and vanilla together in a medium-size bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 1 ½ - 2 minutes. Stop the mixer twice to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Add the eggs to the butter mixture and beat on medium speed until they are blended, about 30 seconds then scrape the bowl.
Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 15 seconds, scrape the bowl.
Add the chips and blend on low until they are mixed in, about 5 seconds.
Drop the dough by heaping tablespoons 2 inches apart on the baking sheets (see note below)
Bake the cookies until the edges are dark golden and the center is light and slightly puffed, 11-12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheets …best eaten day they are baked.
NOTE:
This dough also works beautifully when it’s refrigerated a minimum of 4 hours or even frozen in balls for an hour or two; It tends to produce a thicker, chewier cookie that is crunchy around the edges.
Adapted from Rosie’s All Butter, Cream-Filled, Sugar-Packed Baking Book published by Workman Publishing in 2011.
