Christmas Baking - BA’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Christmas Baking - BA’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Thursday, December 23, 2021

 

Ingredients

Makes 16

1½

cups (200 g) all-purpose flour (spooning into measuring cups, then leveling)

1¼

tsp. (4 g) Diamond Crystal or ¾ tsp. (4 g) Morton kosher salt

¾

tsp. (4 g) baking soda

¾

cup (1½ sticks; 169 g) unsalted butter, divided

1

cup (200 g) (packed) dark brown sugar

¼

cup (50 g) granulated sugar

1

large egg

2

large egg yolks

2

tsp. vanilla extract

6

oz. (170 g) bittersweet chocolate (60%–70% cacao), coarsely chopped, or semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation

Step 1

Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 375°. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl; set aside.

Step 2

Cook ½ cup (1 stick; 113 g) butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, swirling often and scraping bottom of pan with a heatproof rubber spatula, until butter foams, then browns, about 4 minutes. Transfer butter to a large heatproof bowl and let cool 1 minute. Cut remaining ¼ cup (½ stick; 56 g) butter into small pieces and add to brown butter (it should start to melt but not foam and sizzle, so test with one piece before adding the rest).

Step 3

Once butter is melted, add both sugars and whisk, breaking up any clumps, until sugar is incorporated and no lumps remain. Add egg and egg yolks and whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Whisk in vanilla. Using rubber spatula, fold reserved dry ingredients into butter mixture just until no dry spots remain, then fold in chocolate (the dough will be soft but should hold its shape once scooped; if it slumps or oozes after being scooped, stir dough back together several times and let rest 5–10 minutes until scoops hold their shape as the flour hydrates).

Step 4

Using a 1½-oz. scoop (3 Tbsp.), portion out 16 balls of dough and divide between 2 parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets. Bake cookies, rotating sheets if cookies are browning very unevenly (otherwise, just leave them alone), until deep golden brown and firm around the edges, 8–10 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets.

Do Ahead: Cookies can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

TIPS:

Chris, oh Chris: I’ve said this countless times but you are my Favorite at BA (sorry!). Master of flavors and technique: your instructions are always so simple, straightforward, and the final product, always Amazing. Make sure you brown the butter. It took me double the amount of time to brown. After adding the rest of the cut up butter, you have to let the batch of butter cool Completely which takes some time, meaning it can’t be warm! Use high quality baking chocolate and 9 mins in the oven, my cookies came out perfect. I didn’t chill my dough as it retained its shape. My only regret: halving the ingredients and not making the full batch of 16 cookies. I made exactly 8 perfectly sized cookies-highly recommended!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

YIELD

Makes about 28 large (4 1/2-inch) cookies

INGREDIENTS

1. • 3 cups all-purpose flour
   • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
   • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
   • 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
   • 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
   • 1 cup granulated sugar - Even though I used one half cup less white sugar, I would cut even more sugar from the recipe. But the cookies come out a great texture. Everyone loved them!
   • 3 large eggs
   • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
   • 2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (16 ounces)

PREPARATION

1. 1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or wax paper.
   2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
   3. Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Lightly beat 1 egg with a fork in a small bowl and add 1 3/4 tablespoons of it plus 2 remaining whole eggs to butter mixture, beating with mixer until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and mix in flour mixture until just blended, then stir in chips.
   4. Scoop 1/4 cup batter for each cookie, arranging mounds 3 inches apart, on 2 baking sheets. Flatten mounds into 3-inch rounds using moistened palm of your hand. Form remaining cookies on additional sheets of parchment.
   5. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool and continue making cookies in same manner using cooled baking sheets.

Cooks' note:

Cooled cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature 3 days.

Suggestions

These cookies are amazing! I made a few changes since I love dark chocolate. I substituted dark chocolate chips, 53% cacao, for the suggested chips. I scooped 1/4 cup batter for each cookie, arranging the mounds 3 inches apart, with 6 cookies on each baking sheet. I did not flatten the cookies and baked them for approximately 13-15 minutes at 375. I let the cookies cool on the baking sheet to maintain these huge cookie's (5" diameter) shape. They were a great hit with my dinner guests and family that same night and still wonderfully delicious the next day!

Really good, straight forward recipe, easy to repeat. I added a bit more salt on the second go around. I also used a 12 oz bag of chocolate chips we had and that seemed to be an adequate quantity of chips.

 Reducing baking time to 10-12 minutes from 13-15 because the bottoms got a little too done; not by much, but just enough to notice (a bit too hard and almost on the verge of burning) *

* Reducing chocolate chips from 16 oz to 12 oz (possibly even 10 oz) because it felt really excessive. Plus, it felt like the dough struggled to accommodate the entire pound. Plus, you'll need the room in the dough should you decide to add nuts (I would incorporate no more than 3/4 cup) and, if this is the case, I would strongly consider using only 10 oz of chips. * Using only two eggs thus eliminating the 1 3/4 tbs of the third egg. I feel that this will make the cookie a tad less "cake-y". 

I also added eggs all at once. Even though I used one half cup less white sugar, I would cut even more sugar from the recipe. But the cookies come out a great texture. Everyone loved them!