Alton Brown's The Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie - Handle the Heat
Filed Under: Chocolate | Cookies | Dessert

Alton Brown’s The Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

  |  
April 27th, 2009
4.50 from 28 votes
4.50 from 28 votes

Alton Brown’s The Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie fulfilled my quest to find the perfect recipe for chewy, soft, and gooey cookies!

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook: 20 minutes

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I decided to jump on the blogging bandwagon regarding the “Which is the Best?” question. I’m pretty sure I’ve found my answer to which is the best brownie, the Baked Brownie. Oh the Baked Brownie. But chocolate chip cookies, on the other hand, I have not had much experience making. I like my chocolate chip cookies to be chewy, soft, and gooey. I began my cookie quest with Alton Brown’s The Chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe partially because it was the most convenient (no 36 hour waiting periods or whatever) and I already had most of the ingredients at hand except bread flour.

The results were inconclusive. All the cookies ended up good but a little different due to several different reasons:

  • I used 2 different baking sheets to bake the cookies out of necessity. They were different in size, shape, brand. One was bigger than the other so I had to place one sheet on the top shelf of my oven and one on the middle. Needless to say the cookies came out a bit different from each other depending on which cookie sheet they were baked on. Note: I need new half sheet pans!!!
  • I did one batch with the dough I could fit on these 2 stupid baking sheets, and a second batch with the remaining cookie dough on one baking sheet. The second batch turned out more crispy around the edges and had less chocolate chips in it since it came from the bottom of the bowl.

Although the cookies were inconsistent, they were all still good (believe me, I tested one from each batch. Maybe more than once. Ooops.) They were soft and chewy with just the right thickness. They were a tad bit greasy but nothing too bad.

4.50 from 28 votes

How to make
Alton Brown's The Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Alton Brown’s The Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie fulfilled my quest to find the perfect recipe for chewy, soft, and gooey cookies!

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter
  • 2 1/4 cups bread flour
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
  3. Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
  4. Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Recipe Notes

Alton Brown
Course : Dessert
Cuisine : American
Tessa Arias
Author: Tessa Arias

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

Tessa Arias

About Tessa...

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

Find Tessa on  

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Recipe Rating




  1. #
    Susan — June 25, 2023 at 4:42 pm

    Love the recipe, but one note I would add that I did not think about ahead of time is to let the melted butter cool a bit before adding to sugar… all was great until I added the chocolate chips and they melted a little. It was not a big issue as I put them in the refrigerator and all was well, but be aware. Thanks for the recipe

  2. #
    ALM — October 11, 2022 at 1:53 pm

    Meh. I made it as written and I think it turned out as intended – I just didn’t really like it. It is cakey (not dry though). I guess I prefer something with more chew and texture. I won’t make these again unless someone wants me to make them a thick, soft (not chewy) cake like cookie.

  3. #
    Mary — June 29, 2022 at 6:03 pm

    The cookies are fantastic and so delicious . I love this recipe. I set my oven temperature on 365 because I have a Confection oven

  4. #
    Annalise — May 19, 2022 at 7:25 am

    These were delicious! Crispy on the edges, chewy in the middle. Perfection. I did end up adding more flour because my mixture was runny — I read the comments and noticed several others did the same. Saving this recipe!

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