Today I am posting my recipe for classic chocolate chip cookies! Even though I am a professional baker, chocolate chip cookies are the one item I make the most.
I also have some good news to share! I am starting a baking YouTube channel!
I have decided to create a YouTuble channel because I want to post videos with the scientific explanations of baking. I enjoy learning why things are done. For example, do you know why you cream the butter and sugars together in chocolate chip cookies? Unless you’re an advanced baker and also research baking chemistry I’m sure you don’t. But you still follow a recipe when it says to beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
The reason for creaming butter and sugar in cookie recipes is to create air pockets. The coarse granules of sugar cut the softened butter and leave air pockets behind. The longer you cream the butter and sugar the more air pockets. These air pockets assist in rising because hot air gets trapped in them when the cookies are baking. This is known as mechanical leavening. There are 3 types of leavening in baking: biological (yeast), chemical (baking soda & baking powder) and mechanical (air). Chocolate chip cookies use both mechanical and chemical leaving.
Brown sugar is an important ingredient in chocolate chip cookies. Depending on what recipes you use, the ratio of granulated sugar to brown sugar varies. I like to use a 50/50 amount in my cookies. Brown sugar is VERY necessary in chocolate chip cookies. Brown sugar is made up of molasses and cane sugar. Molasses is acidic and baking soda needs acid to react. So the brown sugar helps react with the baking soda and makes the cookies rise! Brown sugar is also much moister than granulated sugar so it helps to make the cookies more chewy and soft! Plus it has more flavor, so all around brown sugar is great.
After the butter and sugars are creamed, next vanilla extract and egg are added. You should always add vanilla straight to the fat because it binds better and it will be more evenly dispersed in the dough. Eggs help keep the creamed butter and sugar in tact by coating the mixture and making sure the butter doesn’t melt immediately in the oven, instead it helps to keep those air pockets together long enough for the hot air to get trapped before the cookies spread out. Plus, egg yolks are emulsifiers which helps combine the mixture into one cohesive dough!
Lastly, the dry ingredients are added. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together, then add it to the other ingredients. Flour creates the structure of the cookies, but if it is mixed too long it will form a lot of gluten. Gluten makes cookies tough, so we only want to mix the flour until is disappears! Add the chocolate chips and then you have chocolate chip cookie dough!
Check out my YouTube video here for even more information on chocolate chip cookies!
Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 113 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 88 g (1/2 cup minus 1 Tablespoon) granulated sugar
- 88 g (1/2 cup minus 1 Tablespoon) light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 195 g (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line sheet tray with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a kitchen aid mixer, add butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Cream together for 5 minutes on medium high speed. Make sure to wipe down the sides of the bowl a few times.
- Add the vanilla and egg to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix until egg is combined, about 1 minute.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to kitchen aid bowl. Mix on low speed until dry ingredients are 75% mixed with the butter.
- Add the chocolate chips and mix until no flour is visible and chocolate chips are evenly dispersed.
- Scoop or roll dough into balls. Place on sheet tray and press top of balls down slightly. Bake for 6 minutes, rotate tray then bake 4-6 minutes until baked to your liking!
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