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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.
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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
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375 degrees.
- Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
- 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.
- 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.
These are the best chocolate chip cookies. My go to chocolate chip cookie recipe from now on.
I’m about to make this recipe – and it is indeed a modified version of Nestle’s recipe. How large are these cookies supposed to be and how many is it supposed to make. The Nestle version makes 5 dozen and shows 6 cookies on a sheet – but the cooking time is much less. I’m concerned about this long cooking time with the same heat and cookie size – love all the science but would be good to know how many cookies this yields.
I’ve made these so much I know the recipe by heart. Accidentally added coffee extract one time and they still were delicious. I always add pecan though!!! ….. my favorite
Alton Brown did in fact use the Nestle Tollhouse recipe but adjusted it in 3 different ways on his cookie episode with a cookie monster look-alike that knows his cookies!!! Alton explained how to alter the recipes to achieve a chewy, a soft and a crunchy cookie. He explained the science between the white and brown sugars and how melting the butter or creaming the butter makes a difference, how egg yolks or whole eggs and even chilling or not chilling batters. His soft cookie recipe is my personal favorite chocolate chip cookie and I have made many other different batches but Alton’s are the BEST!!
I’ve made these cookies dozens of times. I recently tried browning the butter, as opposed to just melting it, and find I get a much deeper nutty flavor in the dough.
10/10 if you follow this recipe.
Thanks for sharing!
Love this recipe! Worked perfectly the first time – and I have big, chewy, delicious chocolate chip cookies! Thank you!!
Made these on a whim, did a little of my own experimenting with the recipe, but they always turned out great. This is my go-to choc cookie recipe and now my brother won’t let me visit him without bringing him some.
This recipe is so good and really turned out awesome!! There are chewy cookies!!! So glad i have found this recipe and thank u for your generosity to share to us. God bless!
No.
Use this: https://altonbrown.com/the-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe/
The difference is enormous.
I followed this Alton Brown knock-off recipe and got flat, amateurish cookies. When I use his actual recipe, I get thick, delicious ones – the best ever,
This is the same recipe just before the measurements were converted from weight vs. volume. Not everyone has a kitchen scale in the US. Moreover, I’ve been using this version of the recipe for 10 years and they come out exquisitely.
I don’t usually have bread flour ,can I substitute all purpose flour?
I bet these are great but I’m really upset that it didn’t say to wait for the butter to cool before mixing in the chocolate chips 🙁 my cookies are all full of melted chocolate now. Maybe it isn’t a bad thing, they could be good! They’re chilling right now so we’ll see.
Making these for the first time after watching Alton Brown do a comparison of thin and crispy,light and fluffy, and finally soft and chewy choc-chip cookie. I chose chewy. How long do I need to refrigerate the dough? Is one hour long enough?