Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 1/4 cups of flour
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 sticks of softened salted butter
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups of semisweet or dark chocolate chips, plus more, see note.

This is my process for making chocolate chip cookies. I don’t believe in two bowls, that’s just silly. I make a full batch of dough and freeze the portioned dough for fresh cookies whenever I want, because I am very picky about the freshness of chocolate chip cookies.

Add softened salted butter to the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment. Add sugars and mix together until well combined. Next add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix until the flour is fully incorporated, scraping down the bowl as needed. Finally add the chocolate chips and mix quickly in the mixer, just 1 or 2 revolutions. Remove the bowl from the mixer and mix a few times by hand with a rubber spatula to ensure the chips are well distributed.

Using a cookie scoop of your preferred size, portion the dough into scoops on a parchment lined, rimmed cookie sheet. And put the sheet in the freezer for a few hours until the dough is hardened. Transfer to a large zippered bag for storage.

When you want to bake preheat your oven to 350 degrees and place on a parchment lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake frozen dough for about 12 minutes (depending on your oven and your preferred “doneness”). If you want to bake the fresh dough, reduce bake time to about 9 minutes.

Notes

• Optional: This is an additional 2 steps I do, but they are not necessary. I measure out the flour and put it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment and put it in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes to slightly toast it. This makes the flour clump so it is necessary to sift it before adding to the dough mixture.
• You can use melted butter as long at it is cool and you don’t mind a chewier texture on your final bake).
• The final bake time will depend on how done you like your cookie. I like the bottom and edge to be set and a little caramelized, but the top to be soft and chewy. This is not the recipe for a cakey finish.
• If you do not have a stand mixer or do not want to use it, just mix the ingredients by hand with a large metal spoon.
• When you portion the final 4-5 cookies, they always seem to be mostly dough, so I add some more chocolate chips into the final few to keep the balance consistent.