Infamous Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

These cookies are based on my mother (Sande)'s recipe, though with a bit of mattification thrown in over the years. Outside of my salsa and cinnamon rolls, these are probably one of the more infamous of my creations. I'll admit... these are absolutely my one weakness of all my baked goods.

A couple of notes before I get into the how-tos and why-fors and such. 

• This recipe generally makes around 90 cookies. Yes, you can half the recipe... but for the volume, ingredients, and time it takes to make... it's just as easy to make a full batch. 
• I use a super secret (which I will share) technique to get the cookies to their "trademark" texture of crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle. This is not included in the recipe above, so you actually have to read. *gasp
• You can use any variety of chocolate chips you prefer... anything from white chocolate chips to mint/chocolate chip mix, Andes' mint chips, or a variety of other things. I've even experimented with things like Salted Carmel chips and Butterfinger bar crumbles. The base dough is perfect, so you can add in whatever you like. 
• Some people like to add nuts. I don't know why you would want to ruin perfectly good cookies with nuts. That will not happen in my home. The whole concept is just nuts to me. 
• I started using pure sea salt (fine ground) in all of my baking/cooking because the normal table salt has iodine in it which can alter the taste. The Sea Salt is all natural, Kosher, and absorbs/integrates better into the bake. Here is the link on Amazon* for what I have on hand - Kirkland Signature Pure Sea Salt

I do use some specific "equipment" in this recipe (and in most of my cookie recipes). I'm including the Amazon* link below.

• Pre-cut parchment sheets (these are all I use anymore!)Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets Non-Stick Parchment

• Cookie Scoop (I LOVE this!) -- Kitchen Aid Cookie Scoop

Ingredients:

2 cups Crisco shortening (you can get them in 1 cup bars)             

2 cups dark brown sugar   

1 cup regular sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract (homemade or McCormick's)
4 eggs           

2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda                     

4 cups & 8 tablespoons regular flour

   

Chocolate Chips/Mini M&Ms   

Suggested Tools

• Stand Mixer / hand mixer with BIG bowl. 
• two standard sized cookie sheets lined with parchment paper (see above)
• two cooling racks lined with parchment paper
• Cookie scoop (see above)

Directions

• In your mixer/bowl, add in Crisco, brown sugar, regular sugar, vanilla extract, and then mix/cream well. 

• Once mixed, add in the four eggs and cream well. It should be fairly liquidy now. 

• Add in the baking soda, salt, and 8 tablespoons of flour. When you start the mixer, start it on low so you don't get the flour "poofs". Mix well until creamy. 
• One trick I use is to start at the lowest speed until things get somewhat mixed, then I bump up the speed two or three times to get a really good mix/cream. It is also a good idea to use a spatula to scrape down the sides at this point, so there aren't any freeloader globs hanging around. 

• Once everything is mixed well, the final stage begins -- adding the flour. I highly suggest adding ONE cup at a time and using the technique above for doing a good mix. If you aren't paying attention, you will end up wearing a lot of the flour. 
• Side note... if I screw anything up, this is the stage. I'll get distracted and I can't remember what number of flour i'm on. This may seem stupid... but I normally add the flour, start the mixer, then start prepping the cookie sheets/parchment paper and such. 
• 
  As you keep adding the flour, it will definitely bulk up. I normally scrape down the sides/bottom between cups 2-3 and after 4. 
• Once all four cups are in, the dough takes on the unique smell/texture/taste. At this point, it is complete and can then be tweaked based on your personal tastes. 
• One trick is if you want a bit of variety, divide out the dough into half or thirds and set aside. Then you can add whatever to each portion.
• Personal bit of history... my mother/grandmother would add walnuts to the dough, but they would leave a portion without them for my Uncle Steve and I. My mother started calling them boy and girl cookies... you know... cause of the nuts. 

• So assuming you are following my recipe, this is where I add in the entire share size bag of mini M&Ms. I dump them in and then let the mixer go for about a minute to make sure everything is in well... then i'll scrape down the sides and mix again for half a minute. I prefer good distribution of M&M awesomeness. 

• Once the goodies are well mixed, remove from the mixer. 
• This is the danger stage... be warned...
• I normally will provide a good quality assurance taste test of the dough to ensure it has the right taste/texture. And then i'll do it two or three more times to make sure there aren't any false positives. #dedication
• Removing all of the dough from the beaters/paddles is an excellent group activity. I have found memories of convincing my 8-10 year old sister to sneak outside and ring the doorbell so Mom would go check it... and i'd grab dough and haul ass. 
• Once you reach this point, it's all over except for the baking. I use the cookie scoop (see above) and deposit the dough balls in three rows of five (15 per cookie sheet, evenly spaced) on two sheets. 
• I prefer the texture of the dough that the cookie scoop gives. Tear off any excess and toss back into the bowl. 

• Bake in the oven for 11-13 minutes at 350 degrees. 
• My preference is for 11 minutes, as they are underbaked at this point (providing the soft inside). In fact, if you aren't careful, you can smoosh them with the oven mit (notice bottom left of left tray).

Super Secret Technique -- SHHHHHHH

• So my cookies are known for their crunchy outsides and their soft/gooey insides. I discovered a technique many years ago that works well for pretty much every cookie I bake. 
• The background is that any cooked food right out of the oven (or grill) continues cooking for a bit. This is why if you bake the cookies the full amount, they will get tougher/drier after. The goal is to prevent this.
• Once the cookies are removed from the oven, I immediately put them on parchment lined cooling wraps and put them in the freezer, which stops the baking. (You may need to rearrange things in your freezer to make room.)

• During ths process, I get a cycle going. The first batch of baked cookies goes in the freezer while I scoop and bake the second batch. When the second batch comes out, I let them rest for a minute on the counter and remove the first batch from the freezer. Those then go into a bag/container, the second batch is moved to the racks and put in the freezer, while batch three goes in. Freeze and repeat for the rest. 

Final Thoughts

• I have been very protective of this recipe over the years and seldom shared it. This is probably my first memory of baked goods of either my mother or grandmother. This is also what started me on the baking path. 
• These cookies tend to go fast, which is why I tend to give them away as fast as possible. 
• Oddly enough, I prefer to keep 5-10 cookies (in baggies) in the freezer. The first couple of cookies directly from the freezer have a slightly different texture as they thaw. 
• I personally use these as a catch all gift... I have used them for secret santa gifts, for clients, and as thank you gifts for peers. The nice thing is one batch is enough to distribute to an office... though with my current employer, one batch lasts about an hour and a half. 

*Quick disclaimer -- I have a business account set up with Amazon and do receive a consideration for anyone that purchases through the link above.