For the month of August (and in honor of our 1-year birthday slated for August 23rd!), Kailley’s Kitchen is set on redefining a few baking classics. Most of the recipes on the blog are over-the-top and infused with creativity and a dash of nostalgia, and while that’s still the goal, I decided it might be fun to reimagine some basics. First up: Not-yo’-momma’s chocolate chip cookies.
For decades, Nestlé Tollhouse has reigned as the epitome of chocolate chip cookie recipes. It’s as ubiquitous as it is dependable, and it never fails to disappoint– Hell, it even had a cameo on the hit television series, Friends (and let’s be frank, that’s when you know you’ve made it. See: Bruce Willis, Reese Witherspoon, Ralph Lauren, Susan Sarandon, and Danny DeVito)
As lovable as that age-old recipe is, however, it doesn’t quite fit my own standards of what the perfect chocolate chip cookie should be (2+ kinds of chocolate, fluffy, chewy, a hint of spice for depth). There are myriad ways to improve upon the standard cookie, and while I’d love to divulge all the tricks of the trade, you’re best off with the Cliffs Notes/bite-sized version below:
1. Use more brown sugar than white sugar – due to the presence of molasses, brown sugar has a greater moisture content than refined white sugar; thus, using a higher brown-to-white sugar ratio will help cookies stay soft and moist (think of brown sugar as packing snow and white sugar as light, fluffy snow)
2. Add corn starch to the mix – typically used as a thickening agent in homemade pie fillings, corn starch helps the cookie dough stay plump by retaining moisture and preventing the dough from spreading thin on the baking sheet
3. Line your baking sheet – be sure to use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat to line your baking sheet; lining the sheet will temper the heat from the metal, ensuring that the bottoms of your cookies don’t get too crisp or burnt
4. Under-bake the cookies – taking cookies out of the oven a couple minutes before they look “done” will keep them soft and moist; leave them on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes after taking them out of the oven, as they will continue to bake slightly until they are cooked through
5. Use more than just one kind of chocolate – experiment with milk, semi-sweet, dark, and white chocolate chips, or even butterscotch and peanut butter chips; different flavors keep the cookies interesting
The following recipe is simple, stress free, and designed to give your stand mixer a rest. Move over, Tollhouse, because this recipe is here to usurp your throne, snag your devout followers, and leave you as nothing more than mere drivel on the back of a bag of chocolate chips. Sorry I’m not sorry.
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (precise measuring is important!)
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs + 2 egg yolks, room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cornstarch, salt, and nutmeg, set aside
- In a medium size bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and vanilla together until smooth
- Add eggs and egg yolks to wet ingredients, mix until combined
- Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, combine with a wooden spoon
- Fold in both kinds of chocolate chips until dispersed evenly in dough
- Cover dough and chill for 2 hours or overnight
- Once ready to bake, remove dough from refrigerator and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F
- Line a large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Roll the dough into balls (about 1.5 inches in diameter)
- Make sure cookie dough balls are slightly taller than they are wide, and place them upright on lined baking sheet
- Press a few more chocolate chips on top of the dough balls for aesthetic appeal, if desired
- Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes
- Allow cookies to cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet, as they will continue to bake through
- After 10 minutes, transfer to a wire cooling rack for an additional 10 minutes
- Store cookies in airtight container is freezer for up to 3 months!
- *For a slight hit of savory, try adding 2/3 cup crushed potato chips OR finely chopped cooked bacon to dough, or a sprinkle of sea salt on top of dough balls right before baking!
*NOTE: If you love this recipe, give these chocolate chip cookie dough sandwiches a try!
Stephie @ Eat Your Heart Out says
GIRLLL I love the basics idea. AND I have never thought to put cornstarch in my cookies! I am wondering if it would benefit oatmeal raisin cookies the same way? (I’ve been experimenting with the perfect oatmeal cookie recipe and am getting a little…obsessed. I think I need a new hobby)
Kailley @ Kailley's Kitchen says
Haha thanks, lady, and I feel your pain! I’ve been researching and trial-and-error-ing for ages to get the perfect chocolate chip cookie– finally nailed that sucker down (at least I like to think so!). I think the addition of corn starch would work well for any cookie! I can’t say I’ve tried it with an oatmeal raisin recipe, but I’d have to imagine it would operate in a very similar manner. Give it a go and let me know how it turns out =)
Leslie says
you mention to be precise in measuring the flour in your cookie recipes – I like to weigh my flour does a cup in your recipes equal 4 1/2 oz or 5 oz? It’s my understanding that the spoon and sweep mthod of measuring flour gets a 4 1/2 oz cup. I really want to make your cookies but want to make sure I use the correct measurement for the flour.. Thanks so much!
Kailley @ Kailley's Kitchen says
Great question, Leslie! I don’t own a food scale, so I used the spoon and level method. A 4.5oz cup of flour should do the trick! In all honesty, as long as you don’t just haphazardly fill a measuring cup with flour, it should work well =)
Courtney says
Hey kailley i’m the ultimate chocolate chip cookie fan, found your recipe and now am a fan of your website! I was just wondering if i could substitute Golden Crisco for the butter? Just blew up thats right BLEW UP the amount of butter the recipe called for in the microwave.
Kailley @ Kailley's Kitchen says
Hey Courtney, I’m so sorry about your butter disaster!!! I’ve done the same thing before! You should be absolutely fine substituting Crisco for the butter– still chill the dough, but once you roll the dough into balls and bake it, you’d never know the difference 🙂 I hope you enjoy the cookies!