Lovely chocolate chip cookies.
I've tried all the chocolate chip recipes (and will probably continue to do so, because hi, I love new recipes!), but this is the one I come back to time and time again.
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For every salad recipe you see on this space, you best bet you'll be finding something like this. This recipe for lovely chocolate chip cookies is exactly what I want in one—a touch of salt, buttery, crisp edges and irregular pools of dark chocolate all over. This recipe comes from the brilliant Tara O'Brady—you can find it in her book Seven Spoons, as well as on her website.
Before I tell you why I love this recipe so much, let me tell you this: I've tried all the recipes. You know, the recipes that have made internet noise over the past years. The New York Times' cookies whose batter requires at least 24 hours of rest time and two types of flour. Alison Roman's slice-and-bake style shortbread cookies. I've browned butter, added tahini, played with gluten-free options, and creamed my fair share of butter and sugar.
And through the years, this is the recipe I come back to again and again. Here's why.
No stand mixer: You don't need a stand mixer for this recipe. My friends recently gifted me the most beautiful cream-colored KitchenAid for my wedding, and there's nothing I love more than using it, but when you've got a craving for cookies, time is of the essence! Plus, one less thing to wash is always a win in my book.
Butter can come straight from the fridge: There's nothing more annoying than deciding to bake cookies and then seeing the recipe calls for room-temperature butter. In this recipe, you melt the butter directly in a pan, which means you can pull the butter straight from the fridge.
Chocolate bars: By chopping chocolate bars into chunks, you're guaranteed the best-quality chocolate chips, as well as all of those irregular pools of melted chocolate. I haven't bought chocolate chips in years, and I don't think you'll need to either after trying this method.
Save them for a rainy day: My absolute favorite thing to do with this recipe is, after baking off a handful, rolling the rest of the dough into balls and popping them in the freezer. There is NOTHING better than being able to make homemade chocolate chip cookies on demand, straight from the freezer.
I'd love to know if you have a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. While this is the one I come back to time and time again, I'll never be able to resist trying other people's favorite recipes.
So here's to lovely recipes, warm chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven, and (if you're like me) enjoying one on a cozy morning dipped in a cup of black coffee.
Tara's Lovely Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe slightly adapted from Seven Spoons by Tara O'Brady
Yields: About 28 cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, chopped (225 grams)
3 1/4 cups flour (415 grams)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar (320 grams)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
340 grams chopped bittersweet chocolate (I like 85%, but have also seen great success with 70%)
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 360° F (180° C), and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the chopped butter. Low and slow is the game here, and you don't want to hear any sizzling, crackling or popping. Stir regularly to ensure even melting.
3. While the butter is melting, chop chocolate bars into small chunks.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
5. Once the butter is melted, pour it into a larger bowl, and whisk in the sugars. Once mixed together, add the eggs, one at a time, whisking quickly after each one, but just to combine.
6. Stir the vanilla into the wet mixture.
7. Using a spatula, stir the dry ingredients into the wet ones. Once the mixture is mostly blended, fold in the chocolate chunks until the remaining flour is incorporated and the dough no longer has traces of flour. Do a quick check of the bottom of the bowl, and make sure there's no flour hanging out down there.
8. Throw the dough into the fridge for a few minutes; I find the cookies bake better after a quick 10 to 15 minutes in the fridge.
9. Roll the dough into balls using about 3 Tablespoons of dough for each one, and place them on a baking sheet leaving about 3 inches between them. Sprinkle with sea salt if you're into that sort of thing.
10. Tara's recipe says to bake for about 10-12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. I never rotate, but you do you. You're looking for golden edges and soft middles.
11. Remove the cookies from the oven, and let them set for a minute or two on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
12. Continue baking cookies in batches with the rest of the dough.*
*NOTE: Alternatively, put rolled cookie dough balls on a baking sheet and place in freezer for at least an hour. Transfer the frozen cookie dough balls to a baggie and freeze for up to three months. You can bake them straight from the freezer following the instructions above any time. This is what I do, and I'm telling you: There is nothing better than craving something sweet and realizing you've got delicious, homemade frozen cookie dough in the freezer.
These ARE the best chocolate chip cookies. I keep trying others and same as you, I keep coming back for these. So decadent!