Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Or the most talked about chocolate chip cookies on my cooking board and in many food blogs, anyway. There have been many, many, many discussions about which recipe is the best. For the most part, I’ve stayed away from the discussions because I’ve always been so satisfied with the old standby but after a near disaster a couple of weeks ago where my cookies spread out into one huge cookie (the expiration date on my baking soda was fine!), I decided that it was time for a change.

As a regular reader of Annie’s Eats, I saw this pop up on my Google reader a few months back and I filed it away in the back of my mind until I was read for this change. And since this recipe has been one that has been highly touted as the favorite on my cooking board, I finally decided to give it a try. It didn’t take much for me to convince Kyle to at least let me try them (he thinks the Toll House recipe is only good cookie recipe) because the recipe has 2 full teaspoons of vanilla which he is a huge fan of in his cookies.

Can you say YUM?! These cookies are incredible!! They were thick. They were chewy. The edges were just a wee bit crunchy and was the perfect texture complement to the chewy centers. And they didn’t last too long in the house. These cookies made me forget all about my WW Points when three four of them made it down to my stomach when I made them on Sunday. Shameful? Maybe. But I seriously couldn’t get over how great they were. More importantly, I think I’ve swayed the cookie monster of the house into loving this recipe so much that I can make them again! Maybe this weekend…

Note: Because America’s Test Kitchen doesn’t publicly publish their recipes and since everywhere I’ve seen this recipe posted says “adapted from America’s Test Kitchen”, I can’t confirm that this is original recipe.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

source: found on Annie’s Eats; adapted from America’s Test Kitchen

2 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Adjust oven racks to upper and lower-middle positions.Preheat oven 325°.Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl; set aside.With electric mixer, or by hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined.Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined.Add dry ingredients and beat at low-speed just until combined.Stir in chocolate chips.
Roll a scant half-cup of dough into a ball.Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull apart into two equal halves.Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, place formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving ample room between each ball.Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy (approximately 11-14 minutes).Do not overbake.

http://erinsfoodfiles.blogspot.com Erin
Those look picture perfect!
joelen
Yummmm…. and I’m planning to try this CI/ATK recipe tomorrow!
http://katorade.blogspot.com Kate
The chocolate chips look like they weren’t even cooked! Perfectly formed, still shiny and gorgeous! Not like the blobs of chocolate I always get.
http://mytastytreasures.blogspot.com Donna
They look perfect. Uh, I would like one now please, No two:) Photo s certainly mouthwatering.
Annie
Yay! I am so happy you decided to make the switch! These are my absolute favorite chocolate chip cookie now. I make them far too often, and eat far too many Glad you enjoyed them.
PhillyGirl
Just made a half batch and they turned out pretty good. I used King Arthur AP flour so they didn’t spread that much which was fine with me. I also put them in the fridge for about an hour. They were gobbled up pretty quickly!
Jane
Hi. i have decided to try the recipe. but i kinda have a few questions.
1. i use a convectional oven and the max is 250° Can it still be done?
2. when i put them in the oven, (11-14 mins) what’s the temperature for it?
im new to this baking thing so pls try to reply
thanks
- smellslikehome
  I’m sure these cookies can be made in a convection oven but I’ve never used one before so I don’t have any advice on the temperature conversion – I’m sorry! When you put them in the oven, the temperature should be 325 degrees F (for a conventional oven). I hope that helps!
Jane
Okay thanks. But what about the preheat timing?
- smellslikehome
  I don’t know how long it will take your oven to preheat to the appropriate temperature as all ovens are different. If you don’t have one already, a great kitchen investment is an oven thermometer. They cost between $5-$10, are smaller than the size of your palm, and you can usually find them in the grocery store. This will remove a lot of guesswork that comes with oven temperatures especially when you’re a new baker. Hope that helps!!
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Zena
I made these and they came out lovely. I have a preference for fewer chocolate chips, and was overwhelmed by them, but I gave them to some friends of mine who begged for more. CERTAINLY a keeper recipe!
Syl
I just made them and I loved them! They are chewy, not too sweet, not too buttery. I made them with dark chocolate and it tasted amazing. Thank you! I was looking for a good recipe for these type of cookies.
Kristi
I just put a batch in the oven. I had to use self rising flour because my regular flour was too old & yucky. LOL. Other than that I followed your recipe exactly. Or at least I think I did.
Only problem was my dough was too soft & squishy to roll into balls. Any thoughts? Do you refirgerate at all first? Or could I?
Thanks.
- http://smells-like-home.com smellslikehome
  Kristi: Yes, if the dough is too soft, stick it in the fridge for a few minutes when portion it out.
http://www.52kitchenadventures.com/ Stephanie @ 52 Kitchen Adventures
Yum, these look so good! Chocolate chip cookies come out flat too often for me, so thick and chewy sounds perfect.
I’m on a quest for the best chocolate chip cookie recipes and I hope you’ll consider adding this post to the Chocolate Chip Cookie Challenge link-up on Aug 15th. Learn more here: http://bit.ly/NOm7mT
Jane
Not to be offensive, but this recipe wasn’t “adapted” from anything. It is, word for word, taken from the Cook’s Illustrated January 1996 edition. It is a great recipe, but you should give the proper credit. I used it for many years until they came out with a better one.
- http://smells-like-home.com smellslikehome
  I guess you missed my disclaimer above the recipe. You should also know that America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Illustrated publishes this recipe in many of their cookbooks so the January 1996 CI edition isn’t the only place it is published. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Ailidh
Oh, dear. I’m going to have to make a great deal more of these. I have been baking for many years now I can passably make a lot of things but chocolate chip cookies have never been one of them. I have NEVER produced a perfect batch of cookies. Not once. Until yesterday when I made these. They are geogeous! And so are you for sharing them, thank you, thank you, thank you. From the bottom of my biscuit deprived heart.
Brian
AMAZING ! I rolled them into balls and froze the dough and baked when I had a sweet tooth. So far the best chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Rachel
Is it a must to use parchment paper to bake them? or can I just spray/grease cookie sheet?
thanks!
Rachel
http://www.fransfavs.com Fran@fransfavs.com
This version was my favorite until I discovered a recipe for the Levain Bakery clone. To.Die.For!! OMG and then some! Check it out: http://www.fransfavs.com/2012/07/levain-bakery-chocolate-chip-walnut-cookie-clone/
Cait
I tried these last night, after my faithful chocolate chip cookie recipe failed on me more than once. They were perfect! Chewy, a bit crunchy, looked like the picture… My hubby raved about them. Thanks for a great new recipe!