Good AF Chocolate Chip Cookies
This is the inaugural post of this blog, so I thought it apropos to make something classic, and I’m a total cookie fiend (hence the 12 cookies of Christmas that I’ve committed to for the start of this blog, FML). I always mess with them slightly to see how I can make them better, different, amazing, but these cookies are something I make every year (multiple times a year, and especially the holidays because my uncle inhales them).
The recipe isn’t special or wildly different than most other chocolate chip cookie recipes out there, and it really comes from a mix of using different cookie recipes I’ve found online — the key here is just quality ingredients (yup, I just Ina Garten’d the fuck outta you). But seriously - it makes a difference. Since I live in Seattle, I’m pretty much obligated to use all local organic stuff anyway, and there’s no shortage of it. I love buying butter made from local creameries, chocolate from Theo, nuts from Oregon, eggs from the farmers market - I feel like it instills a higher appreciation of the ingredients I’m cooking with. But you know, as Ina would say, store bought is fine, too.
Mise en place. This isn't some bullshit chef lingo they only use in fancy restaurants - this is the real deal. Gather and measure all your ingredients before you turn the oven on. Thank me later for the lack of panic attacks when you're cooking.
Chinese five spice. I can’t remember where I first heard about putting it in chocolate chip cookie dough, but it makes such a huge difference that I’m now addicted to watching people eat them for the first time. The reaction is always the same: taste, smile, this is so yummy….WHAT’S THAT FLAVOR??? Yeah, it’s Chinese five spice: cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise, and black pepper. It feels like wrapping yourself in a warm blanket. Of cookies.
Anyways, a lot of food blogs like to spend 17 pages waxing about personal stories and funny anecdotes before getting to the recipe, and I’m not going to do that here. I, like most, just scroll to the bottom as fast as possible hoping I don’t fuck up and click on an ad along the way.
Ingredients
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons Chinese five spice
1 cup room temperature butter, unsalted
1 cup white sugar (I use organic cane sugar, because it’s amazing)
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons very hot water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 bar dark chocolate w/sea salt, grated or finely chopped
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the flour and five spice. You can sift it if you want, but I usually whisk it around so it’s all mixed together.
In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter, the white sugar, and the brown sugar. Cream these together until they’re fluffy. Seriously - this isn’t some 30 second deal. It takes a bit. You really want to whip the sugars and the butter together until the color gets a little lighter and it physically looks fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, making sure they’re completely mixed in, and maintaining that fluffiness. Next, add the vanilla and salt. Most recipes call for something like 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of salt, but I find that a lot of those old-school recipes were assuming we use iodized table salt, and that’s gross. If you’re using a good quality kosher salt, double it. We’re using 1 teaspoon here.
Then, in a small bowl, add the baking soda and hot water. The hot water here is key, since the baking soda won’t dissolve at room temperature. Whisk until it’s dissolved and then add this to the mixer. The reason we’re doing this is because it helps to prevent the cookies from spreading out too much when they’re baked, and helps keep them crisp on the edges and chewy in the center. Because SCIENCE.
Finally, add the dry ingredients (that bowl of flour we mentioned forever ago). I like to do it slowly, a scoop at a time, so that it mixes evenly.
OK - you have a cookie base. At this point, you can basically add whatever you want,*** but here’s what I’ve added this time:
Add 2 cups of milk chocolate chips, 1 cups of chopped pecans, 1 cup of chopped walnuts, and the grated dark chocolate/sea salt chocolate bar. This grated chocolate bar is what takes these cookies over the edge - it’s like there’s a tiny bit of melted yumminess throughout the entire cookie when you’re eating them.
Mix on slow until everything’s combined, scrape down the sides, cover it in plastic wrap, and put the dough into the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes (I usually leave it for about 2 hours, and could leave it overnight if necessary).
When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper so the cookies don’t stick, and to make sure the cookies are all the same size, I like using a small ice cream scoop. Drop the cookies with the scoop about 2 inches apart on the parchment paper, and bake them for 10 minutes in the oven until the edges are just starting to brown.
Take them out and use a spatula to transfer them to a cooling rack, and continue with the rest of the dough. This recipe should make something like 4-5 dozen cookies depending on the size.
GOOD AF.
***Here are some variations that can be added to the cookie base instead of what’s listed above:
- For basic chocolate chip cookies, omit the five spice and only add 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
- Add 1 cup butterscotch chips, 1 cup peanut butter chips, and 1 cup of shredded coconut (omggggg)
- Add 2 cups of white chocolate chips and 1 cup of chopped macadamia nuts
- Add 2 cups of peanut butter chips and your favorite bar of chocolate, grated into the dough
- Brown the cup of butter, first, and then bring it back to room temperature before you whip it with the sugars, etc. This adds an amazing nuttiness to the cookie base (though browning butter is a pain in the ass, and can burn super fast).
See where I’m going here? Pour yourself a glass of wine, and make something yummy. Also, if you have another variation that you want to share, I would love to try it out — Find me on twitter @forkandquill.
