So where were we? Over the fall, I started a quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. So far I have tried three: the Original Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies; the Neiman Marcus cookie; and the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie from Cook’s Illustrated. While I might have gotten distracted by other cookies over the holidays, my love for the chocolate chip cookie has not waned. Over the next few months, I am determined to find the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe for me. (My sweet Dad even bought me a 4.5 pound bag of chocolate chips to help my quest.)
When I am looking to bake something, my King Arthur Flour cookbooks are often one of the first places I look. If I can’t find what I am looking for there, I turn to their excellent blog, Flourish, or their website full of recipes. So when I was looking for a new recipe for this series, I knew just where I should go. My next candidate is from one of my favorite cookbooks of all time, the The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook. This book absolutely lives up to its title; if you love to bake cookies, you should have this book.
The Essentials of the Cookie
The cookbook opens with a section titled, “The Essentials”, which gives variations for classic cookies like oatmeal, sugar, peanut butter, and biscotti. The two essential chocolate chip cookie recipes are “The Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies” and “Classic Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies.” Given both my preference for chewy cookies and that most of the ones I have tested so far have been chewy, I went with the chewy version. These were not a disappointment. This recipe calls for more chocolate than some, but also a bit of vinegar to make the cookies a bit puffier and to cut some of the sweetness. The result is a cookie with a great chewy texture, but also a more prominent chocolate flavor. They are indeed cookies worthy of King Arthur Flour’s name. Will they be my ultimate cookie, only time will tell. Stay tuned.
The Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silpats.
- Cream the butter, sugars, corn syrup and vinegar in a mixer. Add eggs and mix until combined. Then scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Beat in the vanilla, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Stir in the flour and chocolate chips.
- Drop the dough by tablespoonful onto baking sheets.
- Bake cookies for 10 minutes, until they are just set. (The middles might look a bit underdone.)
- Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack to cool.
Recipe Notes
This recipe is just barely adapted from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, a book I highly recommend.
