Jaay’s Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

Update: I have done a few things that, in my opinion, make these even better than the original recipe below:

• I use only Turbinado sugar instead of a mix of processed white and brown sugars
• I use French or European style butter
• I add about a teaspoon of cinnamon
• I get 70+% chocolate and chunk it with a knife instead of using chips when I can
• And, sometimes, I add about half a pound of bacon, crisped up and in small pieces.

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Jaay Dunlap posted a chocolate chip cookie recipe in November 2006 on JustBaking.net that sounded good enough I wanted to try it, and, man alive, am I glad I did!I’ve made these before, but never when I had the chance to get some shots of the process. The recipe is simple, and includes the same stuff that most any other recipe has. There’s sugar, egg, vanilla, baking soda, flour, salt and chocolate chips (or chunks in this case). Oh, I can’t forget the butter… There’s definitely butter in these puppies.What is different is the proportions of the ingredients. This recipe calls for a 2:1 ratio of brown to white sugar. I want to try making this with all Turbinado sugar to see how that works, too.Another major difference is that I’d always read to cream the butter, usually at room temperature, with the sugars. This recipe instead calls for using melted butter. (The formal recipe is listed at the bottom of this entry).After the sugars and butter are mixed, an egg and a yolk are added, along with one tablespoon of vanilla, and all that’s blended together. To that, already-sifted flour, salt and baking soda are added.The chocolate chips or chunks have to be stirred in by hand, so they don’t get all broken up by the mixer. Next time I do these, I’m going to pre-chunk chocolate; I’ll get a bar I think will go well and chunk it myself with a hammer! That way, I can try a variety of chocolates out instead of just getting the packages available (if you do this, just make sure to use chocolate that’s not too sweet).Here’s yet another difference I found in making these cookies… Each cookie is made with a whole quarter cup of batter.I got a scoop at Sur La Table last month to use for the cookies. The scoop didn’t have a liquid measure listed on it, so one of the women working there took me back into their teaching kitchen, and we filled it with water, than measured, and it was exactly one fourth of a cup… Perfect!With the size of these cookies, I only put about eight on a cookie sheet; they need some room to spread out, but they stay pretty well together and come out looking great.The cookies take a while to bake, being as large as they are, but I tried taking them out when they seemed just slightly underdone, as carryover seems to finish them well. They took about 15 minutes in my oven, using a Hearthkit. The Hearthkit really helped the cookies come out very evenly baked, and the convection setting on the oven does a really great job with baking.Now, everyone makes great chocolate chip cookies, I know. A coworker said his wife’s were the best ever… until yesterday. I took a bunch into the office, and no one came back telling me their cookies were better. The coworker that bragged on his wife even took one home to her, and they both agreed these are better.The differences in proportions of ingredients, the use of melted butter, and the sheer size of these cookies are what make these so good. The result is a cookie with a slightly crunchy exterior and a chewy interior, with loads of chocolate. And they stay that way for several days, which is a feat unto itself!Everyone’s entitled to like their family’s traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe (though I bet a lot of those were just copied from the Tollhouse package!). These cookies, though, are so good you could sell them. Trust me on this; I have!

Recipe:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (for pure convection, adjust accordingly; I used 310 F on convection). Grease cookie sheets, or line them with parchment paper or use a Silpat (which is what I did).

Sift the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.

Mix the sugars and butter just until thoroughly mixed, then add egg, yolk and vanilla and mix until creamy. Add the sifted ingredients and mix until just blended.

Stir in the chocolate chips/chunks, then drop dough 1/4 cup at a time on a cookie sheet, about 3 inches apart, and bake for 15-17 minutes. Leave them on the cookie sheet to cool a bit when removed from the oven (this is important… they fall apart if you move them too quickly). Once they cool a few minutes, remove the cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Or eat them right away, with milk!