Chocolate Chip Cookies

It has been quite a while since I baked any cookies. Previously, my bakes were mainly in the area of tarts or cakes. Now its time to give more attention to my cookie recipes.

Cookies always warrant a satisfying treat for me whenever I am hungry or just itching for a munch. I could eat several of them in one go. This was the case for my one-day old chocolate chip cookies. I ate about 12 of the 16 cookies I baked and they were all gone the next day. I did have the intention to share it with some friends though, guess they just did not have the fortune to enjoy these snacks.

Baking chocolate chip cookies seems like a easy task. Getting the desired texture is another different story. Some people like it dense and chewy - supporters of the Subway cookie, others like it crunchy like the Famous Amos cookies. For me, I am alright with both the chewy and crunchy variations. Would prefer the Subway variation slightly better though.  

The recipe I referred to churned out cookies that were soft, cake-like and tender with crunchy crisp edges. These were unlike any cookies I have tasted. After a day of storage in non-airtight containers, they became slightly chewy. It was a good break from the usual chocolate chip cookies.

This is the first time that I am making giant 2-tablespoon sized cookies. Making these large cookies required less effort to shape the dough into mounds and scooping them onto the baking trays. However, I could only bake 3 to 4 such cookies in a batch due to the size of my baking trays.

Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies ( recipe adapted from Chocolate Chocolate by Lisa Yockelson)
Serving size: 15 - 18 cookies

Equipment and materials: 

1) Stand electric beater/ handheld electric beater or wooden spoon
2) Measuring spoon set
3) Spatula
4) Mixing bowl
5) Wire rack
6) Cookie trays/Baking trays
7) Flour sieve
8) Parchment/baking paper
9) Weighing scale

Cookie Dough:

125g plain (all-purpose) flour

20g cake flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

115g unsalted butter, softened

80g light brown sugar

50g caster sugar

1 egg (60g)

1 tsp vanilla extract

185g semisweet chocolate chips

extra chocolate chips (see notes)

Method:

Prepare Oven: Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Prepare dry ingredients: Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Use a balloon whisk to whisk the mixture well to ensure uniform distribution.

Making the batter: Beat the butter on medium low speed for about 3 minutes. Add in both sugars and beat for a further 3 minutes. The butter mixture should be light and fluffy. Notice that the volume of butter mixture will increase noticeably after beating. Next, add in the egg and beat until combined. Blend in the vanilla extract to ensure the flavour is evenly distributed.

Incorporating the flour and chips: Add the flour mixture into the butter mixture in 2 additions. Beat until just combined for each addition. This is when all flour particles are absorbed and there is no visible trail. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl with a spatula to ensure that the dough is evenly mixed. Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips.

Shaping the dough: Scoop 2-tablespoon-size dough onto the baking trays lined with baking paper. Leave some space between each cookie. The cookies will spread to about 3 inches during baking.

Ready to bake: Bake cookies for about 13 - 15 minutes. Cookie centers will be soft but will set upon cooling. Leave cookies to cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Note:

1) Use one cookie dough as a test batch to determine the required baking time for your oven.

2) The last bit of cookie dough may have less chocolate chips. Fold in some extra chocolate chips.