Chocolate Chip Cookies….
I have loved chocolate chip cookies since I was knee high to a grasshopper!
Love, Love Love ’em.
As I have stated in a previous post…the Captain and I made a whirlwind visit back to Kansas and Missouri last week.
While visiting Oldest Son….he just happened to have baked chocolate chip cookies the day before and when he passed them around the room…well, none of us could resist!
(I believe I have told you before that all my children cook and bake.)
Oldest Son follows the package on the chocolate chip bag, which has always proven to be a winner.
(Confession time: I think I devoured at least 5 or 6 of those great tasting cookies)
Today, I want to talk to you about the different ways of making the simple, toll house cookie… or as we have come to call it…the chocolate chip cookie.
Perhaps you know all there is to know about making chocolate chip cookies….because we have all been making them for years.
Or, if you are like me…once in a while you find ….that although your batch of cookies are good….they were just a little different than the last time you made them.
I mean…I haven’t tasted a chocolate chip cookie that I have NOT liked…so I am easy to please when it comes to these delicately, brown clumps of magic bursting with chocolate chips.
But to be a bit more technical….there are reasons chocolate chip cookies are not all created equal.
The ingredients are the same…but the proportions of the butter and sugars are different.
There are basically four different types of chocolate chip cookies….probably more if we really investigate.
There is the original toll house cookie, the thin and crispy cookie, the thick and cake-like cookie, and the soft and chewy cookie.
Original Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie
Oldest Son makes the original recipe which can be found right on the package of chocolate chips. He uses butter at room temperature.
Thin & Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookie
Twin number 2 started making chocolate chip cookies as soon as he was able to stand up to the kitchen counter…and I have to admit, he makes great thin and crispy chocolate chip cookies….but he always melts his butter before creaming, that is just the way he does his.
Thick & Cake Like Chocolate Chip Cookie
I like to make a more thick & cake-y like cookie…..less of the sugars.
Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie
And twin number 1 likes to make… a soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie.
The amounts for the original toll house cookies are:
2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
3/4 cup of white sugar
3/4 cup of brown sugar
The amounts for thin & crispy cookies are:
2 1/2 sticks of butter (1 1/4 cups)
1 1/4 cups of white sugar
3/4 cup of brown sugar
The amounts for thick & cake-like cookies are:
1 3/4 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
3/4 cup of white sugar
1/4 cup of brown sugar
The amounts for soft & chewy cookies are:
2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
1/2 cup of white sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
From here on, the recipes are the same,
2 1/4 cups flour, 2 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of vanilla and 2 cups of chocolate chips
How about a little baking trivia?
- Perhaps you didn’t know that the difference in using baking soda versus baking powder, is that baking soda “spreads while baking” while baking powder “puffs” while baking.
- Unsalted butter at room temperature allows for easier creaming.
- Brown sugar adds molasses which makes the cookie chewy…so more brown sugar…chewier cookie.
- Creaming incorporates air into the batter which assists with the leavening of the cookie
- Reducing the over all sugars, white and brown…allows the cookie to be more cake-like
- A high ratio of white sugar to brown sugar results in a thin and crispy cookie
- An electric mixer provides a better blending of ingredients
All four printable recipes are below, so go forth and bake chocolate chip cookies…
I baked all four cookie recipes this morning!
All four of these batches of cookies are going into freezer bags and into the freezer!
No, don’t admire me for my will power…I sampled so many of them, that I think I have a chocolate chip overdose. 🙁
Do you have a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe?
It is always a great day when cookies are in the oven. 🙂
Me
- 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt (I use coarse salt)
- 2 cups good quality chocolate chips
- Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugars together until light and creamy
- Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well
- In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt until well incorporated
- Add to the creamed mixture
- Add the chocolate chips being careful to not over beat.
- Using an ice cream scoop, drop by tablespoonful onto parchment paper placed on a cookie sheet
- Bake in 350 degree oven for about 8-15 minutes
- Cool on a cookie rack and store in a container for up to 3 days
- These can also be put in freezer bags and placed in freezer for up to 3 months.
- If you want your cookie to not be as crisp, remove from the oven at about 8 minutes.
- 1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt (I use coarse salt)
- 2 cups good quality chocolate chips
- Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugars together until light and creamy
- Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well
- In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt until well incorporated
- Add to the creamed mixture
- Add the chocolate chips being careful to not over beat.
- Using an ice cream scoop, drop by tablespoonful onto parchment paper placed on a cookie sheet
- Bake in 350 degree oven for about 8-15 minutes
- Cool on a cookie rack and store in a container for up to 3 days
- These can also be put in freezer bags and placed in freezer for up to 3 months.
- 2 sticks of unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup of white granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt (I use coarse salt)
- 2 cups good quality chocolate chips
- Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugars together until light and creamy
- Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well
- In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt until well incorporated
- Add to the creamed mixture
- Add the chocolate chips being careful to not over beat.
- Using an ice cream scoop, drop by tablespoonful onto parchment paper placed on a cookie sheet
- Bake in 350 degree oven for about 8-15 minutes
- Cool on a cookie rack and store in a container for up to 3 days
- These can also be put in freezer bags and placed in freezer for up to 3 months.
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter (room temperature)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Chocolate Chips
- 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
- Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
- Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Gradually beat in flour mixture.
- Stir in chocolate chips and nuts if desired.
- Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets or place cookies on parchment paper (makes for easier clean-up)
- Bake in 375 degree oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
- For higher altitudes (5,200 feet): Increase flour to 2 1/2 cups. Add 2 teaspoons water with flour and reduce both granulated sugar and brown sugar to 2/3 cup each. Bake drop cookies for 8 to 10 minutes
They are really good aren’t they Sandy! Sometimes you don’t mess with perfection! Except to maybe add a few more chocolate chips! 🙂
thanks for stopping by
Me
Okay, Kari, I like the Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies best. I, also, like the crispy kind, but not the cake cookies.