Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
September 5, 2008 by Culinary Cory
Filed under Cookies, Munchies
When I’m not in the mood to step out of the box with flavors, I enjoy going back to the basics with tried and true recipes that I have been using for years. It’s a great opportunity to see how far I have come and a wonderful reminder of how fun food can be.
My Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies is the first recipe I made at the wee age of 9 or 10. I can’t tell you how many times I have baked these classic cookies over the years. The book I use is a 1980’s Betty Crocker cookbook covered in scribbled “C’s” from when I was learning to write my name. It’s kind of ironic that I used cookbooks for handwriting practice. The exact page is marked and stained with ingredients gone by, and there is nothing more comforting than an old favorite.
As I mentioned before, I can’t tell you how many times I have used this recipe. So much so, I have seen grown men cry when they bite into the gooey, chewy and sweet goodness of this cookie. Now here is a question for you. What is your favorite cookie? What makes you squeal with joy and take you back to a more innocent time in your life? You never know, they might be featured in the next few postings.
Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups unbleached white flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
12 oz. semisweet chocolate chipsPreheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugars, butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Next add the eggs and vanilla until combined. Slowly add the flour, baking soda and salt. Be careful not to over mix the dough. Turn off the mixer and hand fold the chocolate chips until well combined.
Using a small ice cream scoop, drop the cookies onto ungreased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool completely on the cookie sheet. I have found this to be the best way to guarantee perfectly soft cookies each and every time. Makes about 3 ½ dozen cookies.
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It’s ALL about the shortening.. My friend’s grandma uses this (or a very similar) recipe, and they are seriously addictive
My cookies never look like this! I wish they did! I have made sooo many chocolate chip cookie recipes over the years trying to get this look and no luck.
They look perfect! I was just thinking of making chocolate chip cookies. Are they crunchy or chewy type?
I just made these cookies. They were delicious!
That’s so wonderful, Emma. I’m glad you liked them.
I just made these cookies for a huge group of teenagers and they are a big hit. What a great addition to teen movie night! Delicious straight out of the oven!
What a cute story Ardie, thanks for sharing.
Mmm I’m going to make these soon, I’ve been dying to make cookies!
As for my childhood cookie memories:
My grandmother always made HUGE batches of cookies when she visited us; I would come home from school to find them all over the kitchen and dining room, and ate them warm right off the newspaper (she always used newspaper to cool cookies). Although yours are more uniform, I liked that Grandmother’s were circular but uneven – adds a little character, and makes some cookies crunchier than others.
She still makes them once in a while, and also makes great peanut butter balls: some kind of magical peanut butter and rice krispie mixture dipped in chocolate.
Anyway, thanks for the recipes, I’ll be trying more soon!
~Ardie
Thanks, I was amazed at how pretty cookie dough can be.
they’re so beautiful!
Hey Shannon: That is a great question. I like to use unsalted butter because it allows me to control the amount of salt that goes into my baked goods.
I have tried many chocolate chip cookie recipes, only to be disappointed by flat or crumbly cookies that fall apart into many pieces. Yours look thick and chewy and I will definitely try them. Also, could you explain why the recipe calls for “unsalted butter”? Does this make a big difference in taste or consistency?
Hey Mistah!
There are sooooo many chocolate chip cookie recipes out there! Yours look PERFECT!
I thought they were all created equally.
Boy, was I WRONG. So I say get out of your safe CCC haven and try some new ones.
This is one recently tested by John (ha ha) – YUM!
http://goodthingscatered.blogspot.com/2007/08/best-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
I had a three ring bindered Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook as a kid that I had to share with other family members. It’s still hanging out at the farm for all us kids to peek at, but damn those recipes are from the 60′s – did I just date myself!?