Chef John's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brilliant. I've made them many times now.I must say I cook them at 170c for 11 minutes because I like them a little thicker and medium rare. Pic related are possibly the best cookie I've ever made thank you Chef John!

My favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I've seen a lot of people talking about their cookies not being as flat and crisp, and I have had the same problem in the past. after some experimenting, here is my fool-proof METHOD (NO INGREDIENT SUBS/TWEAKS) for a flat and crisp edge with a soft center:- brown butter and add in 1 tablespoon of water back into the butter when it cools down a bit (since water evaporates from it when browning)- add white and brown sugar to browned butter. sugar/butter mixture does not need to be aerated/whipped.- mix eggs and milk together and add to sugar/butter mixture- add wet mixture into dry and mix JUST UNTIL flour is incorporated. (the dough will be pretty wet. but trust the process.)- fold in chocolate chips, doesn't need to be too delicate. if the mixture is warm from the browned butter, the chips may melt a bit, but still turns out okay- chill in fridge for at least 2 hoursThis is a bit more work than what is originally called for, but it has not failed me yet. I get a flat/crisp edge every time! I also suspect that a lot of people are over-mixing their dough which is causing the flour to develop more gluten, which in turn makes for a rounder and more cake-like cookie. Try ditching the stand mixer if possible and make this by hand!

Chef John indicated he used a recipe from Alton Brown and made some adjustments in the development of this recipe; therefore, I made an adjustment to Chef John’s recipe. Who wants to wait two hours for cookies? Not me! Back to the adjustments I noted they were in the area of salt, milk and vanilla extract quantities. I noticed a few reviews indicate the salt quantity was too much, i agreed and I adjusted accordingly, I used 1/2 tsp salt. I decided to stick with the AB quantity of vanilla, except I used 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla bean paste as opposed to extract…trust me it bumps the vanilla note perfectly!!! I made these to share at work, so I used 2 Tbsp lactose free milk, along with 1 for 1 gluten free flour. Win win! I made half with chopped pecans, and half without nuts. I’m not a crispy cookie type person, but they were still tasty AF!

If you like flat thin chocolate chip cookies, this cookie is for you. The cookie had a great taste, but I would decrease the kosher salt to 1 teaspoon. The recipe calls for refrigerating the cookie dough. I only refrigerated the cookie dough for about an hour, instead of the 2 hours stated in the recipe. Next time, I will use a cookie scoop and refrigerate the dough balls on a baking sheet. I also would decrease the chocolate chips to 1 and 1/2 cups of chocolate chips just because I didn't like the way some of the chocolate chips clumped together. I used two baking sheets to bake the cookies. I also would press down the cookie before baking. I would keep the rest of the dough in the refrigerator if the dough gets to soft. The cookies also remained soft the next day. All in all, the cookie wasn't what I was used to, but it was still a great cookie.

Overall, these are great chocolate chip cookies, especially right out of the oven. They got a golden brown exterior and crispy edges with a soft, fudgy interior. The recipe is straightforward and easy to follow, and all of the ingredients are easy to find.For folks who like a super thin cookie, my suggestion would be to let the dough come to room temp after resting it; scooping it cold from the fridge kept mine from spreading entirely, which resulted in that fudgy middle. While I'm more of a thin and crispy kinda girl, my hubby likes chewy cookies, so this was a nice meet-in-middle compromise.I did make a few changes — first, I only buy salted, grass-fed butter like Kerrygold. That said, I really like salty sweets! I used the salted Kirkland grass-fed butter in the green foil, reduced the kosher salt to 1 teaspoon, and sprinkled a bit of Maldon on top before baking for a bit of extra crunch, sparkle, and salty yumminess.Hubs and I are also just a 2-person household and we really like to eat straight cookie dough. As such, I turned this into an edible cookie dough by heat-treating the flour and using pasteurized eggs. I only baked off about 9 bakery-sized cookies using my spring-loaded disher. The rest I scooped into cookie-sized balls and popped them in one of my reusable ice cream containers to keep in the freezer. SUCCESS!Now, when the craving strikes, I can either grab a ball of dough to eat with a spoon, or bake off just the right amount of cookies in our toaster oven, because cookies that are warm from the oven are so much tastier, amirite? Also, BTW, this makes for a VERY good edible cookie dough.Finally, as with most of my chocolate chip cookie adventures, I used half vanilla extract and half almond extract. I love the extra bit of nuttiness it adds to the dough, and it makes the salty-sweetness have almost a toffee vibe.All in all, I will definitely make this recipe again, but not if I want über-thin cookies like the description states.

These are the best cookies I’ve ever made!! They’re nice and soft on the inside but crispy on the edges. Delicious!