I Bake For Attention: Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’m so happy/excited/giddy!!!

I’ve just found the best recipe for chocolate chip cookies! I make a lot of cookies. A LOT. Cookies were one of the first things I ever learned to bake, and I baked them all the time.

I experimented through the flavours, and finally found the ideal chocolate version – peanut butter chocolate cookies which are flavourful, with perfect texture. And they just LOOK good, like real, proper cookies. I have made plenty of “plain” choc chip cookies, and I’ve never come close to that texture or look. So, I hunted.

..And hunted, and hunted. I read a lot of blogs, lured in by descriptions of perfect cookies that never just measured up to my expectations. I experimented with melted butter, non-melted butter, different sugars, different ratios of sugars, different leavening agents, chilling them beforehand…

But. Here we are. The perfect cookie. I’m really happy right now, and it doesn’t even feel silly to care this much about a biscuit.

Ready, set, BAKE!

Makes about 2 dozen cookies
adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction..

Ingredients

325g plain flour
2 tsp cornflour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp salt
170g butter
175g golden granulated sugar
25g caster sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
100g chocolate chips (optional, experiment)

Method

Sift together your flour, cornflour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Set aside.

Whisk your butter with a handheld whisk for about 60 seconds. I rarely use things like this for my baking (unless I’m whipping cream or eggwhites) but I feel like it is quite crucial here. It bridged the gap between regular butter and melted butter, being softer than the former and thicker/creamier than the latter. This gives the cookies a perfect texture.

Now, whisk in the two sugars for a few seconds until all combined.

Follow that with the egg and vanilla sugar and whisk again.

Now, pour in the dried ingredients you’ve already measured out, a little at a time. I put about half in with the help of the mixer and then I mixed the rest in by hand – it makes a thick cookie dough.

Finally, stir through your preferred additions – I went with white and dark chocolate chips, but I’ve had success in the past with white chocolate and dried cranberries, and white chocolate and coconut. But any sort of chocolate/nut/dried fruit goes well in cookies, so experiment a little!

Tightly cover the cookie dough in clingflim and place in the fridge for at least an hour, and up to 24 hours. I chilled mine for 2 hours and that was perfect. I also did it for 24 hours and the cookies didn't flatten, but stayed puffed.

Remove from the fridge, and preheat the oven to 170 degrees.

Roll into small balls and place on a prepared baking tray, with plenty of space between them to allow for spread during cooking. I also dotted some more choc chips on top.