World’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookie

It’s a title many have claimed, but only one can truly possess.  The quest to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe has led me on a journey through countless cookbooks and hours in the kitchen, and ‘A’ has dutifully tested versions that were crisp, chewy, fluffy, & flat, with all manner of “secret ingredients” thrown in.  All were edible, and some even delicious, but I never felt that I’d truly hit upon the perfect recipe for this all-time classic… until now.

Melting & cooling the butter before adding it to the sugar results in a soft & chewy cookie.

While thumbing through my Baking Illustrated cookbook (by the Cooks Illustrated team that scientifically tests each recipe), I read about a new technique for forming chocolate chip cookies to get the fluffy shape that is found in gourmet bakeries.  After following the recipe to the tee, I ended up with the most perfect cookie: chewy, a bit soft, and super chocolate-y.  Trust me, this recipe is one trick every seductress needs to have up her sleeve.

Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 18 large cookies.

• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (1 1/2 sticks)
• 1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1-2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

Either by hand or with electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in chips.

Form scant 1/4 cup dough into ball. Holding dough ball using fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves ninety degrees and, with jagged surfaces exposed, join halves together at their base, again forming a single cookie, being careful not to smooth dough’s uneven surface. Place formed dough onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.

Bake, reversing cookie sheets’ positions halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes.  Cool cookies on cookie sheets.