The LAST chocolate chip cookie recipe you'll ever need.

The chocolate chip cookie holds a special place in my heart.  It was the first recipe I learned to make from scratch.  I'll never forget in the fourth grade we had an open house at our school and were assigned do some sort of science experiment.  You know what I'm talking about, some kids did the volcano with dry ice, others did the solar system with those styrofoam balls painted to look like the planets, and well me, I baked chocolate chip cookies.  My angle of how this was related to science was to describe the chemical reaction that took place from the addition of baking soda and baking powder, aka the leavening agents that make the cookies rise in the oven.  Genius, I know.  So we had to stand next to our science experiments and the guests were free to walk around and view what gluey little messes we prepared.  I had a big poster behind me that had my cookie recipe written on it along with all the 'research' I did.  And in front of me I had a big plate of my cookies that I prepared all by myself, yep so proud.  So I'm standing there smiling as people walk by thinking how unique my project was compared to all the other kids, then it started happening.  People (mostly sticky bratty little noise-makers) would come up to my stand, take a cookie and walk away.  No 'oh what is this all about' or 'oh isn't that clever.'  Nope, not a word, not a glance at my special poster, nada.  They just took a cookie and bolted…like I was the refreshments table.  Yeh I was crushed, but I got an A. 

I was debating on whether or not to post this recipe because come on we all know how to bake chocolate chip cookies, right?  BUT, this is not just any chocolate chip cookie recipe.  This is THE chocolate chip cookie recipe.  I've tried the notorious Neiman Marcus one (here), it's good.  I've also tried the infamous Jacques Torres recipe (here) which is awesome, but getting his chocolate to Dubai isn't that easy and really what's the point of baking them without the chocolate 'oh I'm in heaven' discs.  So forget what you know about chocolate chip cookies and try this recipe.  It's simple to throw together and most probably you have all of the  ingredients in your pantry.  Don't we all have stock of chocolate chips or is that just me?   

The key to this recipe is the amount of brown sugar (1 cup), the extra egg    yolk,and an oven temperature set to 325 (Fahrenheit).  This combination provides the chewiness and soft texture.  The only problem with these cookies is you'll want to eat all the batter and not bake them, it's that good.  Be sure to store in an air-tight container (and not a cookie jar) to avoid them from hardening.  I usually freeze half the batch so we can enjoy them later and they defrost beautifully as well.  I usually first wrap in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, then place in a zip-lock freezer bag.  It's like Fort Knox in my freezer.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 egg (room temperature)

1 egg yolk (room temperature)

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In Dubai butter is sold in grams, not 1/2 cup sticks like we have in the US, so measuring butter gets quite tedious.  I had to eye-ball an amount from the block and melt it, then pour it in a measuring cup to get 3/4 cups exactly.

   

In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.

Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy.  Please take notice that I cracked the egg in a separate bowl before adding to the sugar/butter mixture.  I do this with ALL my recipes.  It doesn't matter whether it's cookies, cakes, muffins, whatever.  This is done for two reasons.  First, I believe you if you think you are the master egg-cracker BUT sometimes teeny-tiny pieces of egg shell can slip in and hide themselves in your bowl.  Second, let's face it, sometimes you can get a bad egg, and that is just gross.  So, on the side of caution, crack separately.

   

Mix in the sifted ingredients in one-third increments until just blended.  Never dump your dry ingredients in all at once.  First, you're just going to make a mess once that mixer is turned on.  Second, and more important by adding the dry ingredients gradually you ensure that they will be incorporated evenly.  Never over mix as this can active the gluten from the flour and cause your cookies to become tough.  This goes for almost all cookie recipes, cakes, breads, etc.

(and don't forget to scrape down the sides of your bowl)

 Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts by hand using a wooden spoon.  Place dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour.  Because the butter in this recipe is melted the cookies can spread in the oven and become too flat if you don't let the dough firm up.  Drop cookie dough  onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted.  Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Adapted from allrecipes