I am a big chocolate chip cookie fan. You could put cakes, candy, pies and any other imaginable dessert in front of me and if I have the option to eat a chocolate chip cookie, I choose the chocolate chip cookie. I decided to put "the best chocolate chip cookies" in the Google search and see what happened. Up came "The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe EVER". OK. If it's the best chocolate chip cookie recipe EVER, I need to try it.
On Monday night I decided to make them for a function I was attending. I made the cookies according to the directions and they just weren't looking like Alice's. I creamed the butter with sugar, and beat it. My baking powder and soda were new and I weighed the flour. Mine were spreading thin as they cooked and were slightly dark around the edges. (My guess is that I needed more flour.) But, they did taste pretty good. They were sweet, there was just enough chocolate and the sea salt does give a sweet and salty taste to the cookie. Jeff kept saying, these don't look like cookies you baked but they taste great.
On Tuesday night they were a huge success at the function I attended. People loved the soft and crunchiness of the cookie. They also liked the salt, which really does balance the cookie. I think sometimes, I am more critical of what I bake than anyone else. But, I finally got the answer I was looking for when I sent a few cookies to school with my son, who is in high school. I asked him how he liked them and he said, " They were good but I was full so I gave one to my friend. He said they were the best chocolate chip cookies he EVER had." I was sold, but the next time rather than weighing the flour, I may sift and measure. I'll keep you posted on the results.
Thank you, Alice, from Savory Sweet Life for providing me with the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe EVER!
Alice’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes approx. 45-48 cookies using a sm-med 2 tablespoon cookie scoop
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups (12 oz) all-purpose flour *If at all possible, please weigh the flour
1 tsp. smallish-medium coarse sea salt *please do not use table salt, the sea salt gives the cookies a nice flavor and hints of texture. If you only have table salt, use 1/2 tsp. *When using sea salt, you will get small crunchy flecks of salt when you bite into the cookie. If you do not like this taste, go with 1/2 teaspoon of table salt.
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 cups/16 oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips *I use Nestle Toll-House
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 360 degrees. Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar until it is nice and fluffy (approx. 5 minutes on medium speed on a K-5). Add both eggs and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Add baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour until cookie batter is fully incorporated. Finally add chocolate chips until well distributed. The cookie batter should be somewhat thick. Drop about 2 tablespoons of dough or use a medium cookie scoop and plop the batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are nice and golden brown. Remove from heat and allow the cookies to stay on the cookie sheet for an additional 2 minutes. Pick up the parchment paper with the cookies still on top and transfer to a cool non-porous surface. Allow the cookies to cool on the paper for at least 3 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
*Troubleshooting*
-If you’re cookies are coming out flat and not like the pictures there are probably 3 reasons for this.
#1) Baking powder and Baking soda is old. If your baking powder and soda is older than 1 year and has not been in a sealed (preferably air tight) container, it has lost some of it rising qualities.
#2) Creaming. It is not enough to just cream the butter and sugars until it has come together. This recipe requires you to beat it with a mixer for at least 5 minutes until the texture of the butter and sugar turns to light and fluffy-just like the picture.
#3) Flour. Flour should be weighed. This can make or break the recipe because just scooping flour into a measuring cup will never yield ideal or consistent results.