Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies (The BEST!)

When we got married I started a little collection of cookbooks. It’s since grown enough to fill the cabinets above our stove/oven. I have a few that I absolutely love and use on a weekly (practically daily) basis. They include: The New Best Recipe, The Art & Soul of Baking, Ready for Dessert, The Perfect Scoop, Kitchen Confidence, and The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook. This recipe comes from the latter. It’s such a fun book full of southern desserts and American classics. I look forward to the day we road trip to Savannah, Georgia and eat at Cheryl & Griffith’s famous bakery! It’s definitely on my bucket list! For now I’ll just have to satisfy my sweet tooth by whipping up their incredible goodies in my own kitchen. Today’s recipe is adapted from their chocolate chip cookies.

I’ve made their exact recipe several times but have always thought it could use a little something here and there to make it better. It had so much potential! So over the course of about 6 months I’ve been altering ingredients, quantities and methods to see if I could come up with the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Guess what? I did! Thank goodness we have lots of taste testers who are more than willing to gobble down all of my experiments… because we’d be in serious trouble if we didn’t!

So what did I change and why are these cookies so perfect? Good question! The first problem I had with their recipe was that the cookies always had greasy bottoms. No matter how long I chilled the dough or if I used parchment, they just kept leaving a puddle behind. I added more flour which helped solve that problem. I also added some cornstarch to prevent extra moisture and to ensure that these cookies would be thick and chewy. I scaled down the salt a bit and upped the vanilla extract, because I can never say no to more flavor! I tossed in a mixture of both semisweet and bittersweet Ghirardelli chocolate chips and called it good. And oh where they good!!! My final “experiment” was with chill time. In the picture above, the left side = cookies that chilled for 3 hours prior to baking and the right side = cookies that were baked immediately after the dough was mixed up. While the cookies that chilled had a slightly puffier texture to them, the non-chilled cookies were just as good. Which means… the dough does NOT need to be chilled! Hooray!!! Of course if you want to chill it that’s totally fine. They dough stays fresh for up to 5 days in the refrigerator and 3 months in the freezer. But really, how can you resist baking these immediately?!

As a finishing (and very personal) touch, I sprinkled a bit of sea salt on top of them before sticking them in the oven. I love that sweet and salty combo. Plus, salt brings out the flavor of the chocolate and the cookies themselves. We baked ours for 13 minutes (the hubby loves his extra golden brown & crispy) but 12 or even 11 works too. As soon as they came out of the oven we let them cool for a few minutes and then devoured them!

There’s nothing better than a warm chocolate chip cookie! Especially one that is baked to perfection 🙂 Next time you’re looking for a quick and delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe, I hope you’ll give this one a try… it’s simply the BEST!

5.0 from 7 reviews

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

12 mins

Total time

17 mins

 

Crisp tops and edges, soft chewy centers. Loaded with lots of chocolate chips. These are the perfect chocolate chip cookies!!!

Author: Natalie

Yield: 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 2⅔ c. all-purpose flour
• 1¼ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 1¼ tsp. salt
• 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 1 c. brown sugar, packed
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 c. chocolate chips (semi, bittersweet or both)
• 
  
• Sea salt for sprinkling (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats, set aside.
2. Place butter in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 30-45 seconds (full strength) or until it's almost completely melted but has a few soft pieces left.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer), beat together butter, sugars and vanilla for 1 minute. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing in between additions. Turn mixing speed to low and gradually add in the dry ingredients. Beat until just combined or until a soft dough forms. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula. Now you can either bake the dough straight away, chill for 3 hours and bake, store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze it.
5. To bake the cookies, using a standard size cookie scoop (approximately 1.5 tbsp.) to form balls of dough. Place onto the prepared sheets, leaving at least 2 inches in between. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired.
6. Place in the oven and bake for 11-13 minutes, rotating the sheet half way through the baking process. Remove from oven when cookies are golden brown in color around the edges. Let cookies cool on pan for 3-4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

-I prefer using a mix of semisweet chocolate chips and bittersweet chocolate chips. Ghirardelli is my brand of choice.
-Cookie dough can be wrapped or placed in an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or can be portioned and frozen for up to 3 months.


Recipe source: adapted from The Back In The Day Bakery Cookbook

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