27 Jan Delightfully Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hello from inside a sweet cloud of flour and sugar!

These past few weeks, I’ve been writing, as well as testing a lot of new recipes. Some were lovely, and I’ll be sharing soon! Others, well…let’s just say that my garbage disposal got a good workout 😉

Today I want to share a go-to recipe of mine – super easy, super yummy chocolate chip cookies! No crazy amount effort required here, so that makes it the perfect mid-week, grab-and-go treat. And, if you’re like me, you’ll also end up eating one a few while standing in your kitchen trying to figure out what the heck to make for dinner.

If you glance at the recipe, you may notice that I use a combination of both all-purpose flour and bread flour and the reason for that is that bread flour does magical, wonderful things to cookies! Let me explain. Bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose flour, and the higher the protein content in your cookie, the chewier they’ll be! I don’t know about you, but I go crazy for a cookie that’s ever-so-slightly crispy around the edges and soft in the middle, which is just what these are.

Also, does anyone else eat some of the raw dough while making cookies? I know we aren’t supposed to but I can’t help it.

If you’ve been following along over on Instagram for awhile, you might know that I shared this recipe on my Glitter Guide feature last year (honestly, where has the time gone?!). Since then, I’ve taken up blogging here on my website and I wanted to share it here with you, so that I can answer any and all questions you may have. And while we’re on the topic of questions, I just wanted to tell you how much I love getting emails and comments from you all! I read and try my best to answer all of the questions, as well as the sweet comments and I love getting them, so thank you!

(photo of myself taken by the lovely Kristy for Glitter Guide)

And one more thing! Let’s talk flour for a second. Flour is wonderful, but measuring it can kind of be a pain. As an experiment, I asked 3 friends who love to bake to go into their kitchen, measure out 1 cup of all-purpose flour (the same brand) and then weigh it on a their digital scales – and they all read completely different numbers ! One was even a whole 3 tablespoons over, which is a lot in the baking world. How you measure your flour really counts.

If the recipe provides the weight of an ingredient (especially flour) and you have a digital scale, by all means, weigh it. If you don’t have a digital scale or the recipe doesn’t provide a weight, use a spoon to scoop the flour out of the bag or bin and place it into your measuring cup, little scoop by little scoop, then level it off with the top flat edge of a knife. This is called the “scoop and sweep” method. I know that the process sounds tedious, but it’s so worth that little bit of extra time spent to get a perfectly measured ingredient. Accuracy = a happy baker!

I hope these cookies make your week a little sweeter!

Happy baking, friends!

Tessa xo

Delightfully Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 18 medium cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups (210 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups (150 g) bread flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature (bring up their temperature quickly by placing in a bowl of hot water for 5 minutes)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350° F, line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Place the butter and both of the sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula. With the mixer running on medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix. Stop the mixer again and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl once more. Add the dry ingredients all at once, and mix on low speed until the dough begins to come together. Stop the mixer again and give the sides of the bowl a quick scrape again to release any clinging flour, then add the chocolate chips and mix just until blended.

Scoop the cookie dough out in levelled 1/4 cup scoops (a spring-loaded ice cream scoop works perfectly for this), roll into a ball and gently flatten the cookie slightly. Place on the first cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, being sure to place no more than 6 cookies on each cookie sheet, as they’ll spread while they bake.

Place the first two trays in the oven and bake until the edges are a light golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. The middle of each cookie should look lighter than the edges, which ensures a perfectly soft center. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, before carefully scooping them up with a spatula/cookie lifter and placing them on a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat these steps with the last baking sheet. Cookies will keep in an airtight container for 2-3 days.