This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Pepperdine chapter.
After one week, 5 boxes of butter, 700 messes, and only three phone calls to my mom asking her a simple question I easily could have googled, I created the ULTIMATE chocolate chip cookie ever to be made.
Megan’s Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe:
1 cup bread flour
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup browned, unsalted butter (2 sticks)
½ cup dark brown sugar (packed)
½ cup light brown sugar (packed)
½ cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup (or more) semi-sweet chocolate chunks
- In a medium bowl, combine bread flour, all-purpose flour, salt, and baking soda. It is very important that you do not pack the flour into the measuring cups! Simply spoon in the flour and level off with a butter knife before pouring them into the bowl.
- Cut butter into 1-inch thick slices and place in large (!!!) saucepan to brown. Bring the butter to a boil and stir constantly. As the water begins to boil out of the butter, it will begin to turn a beautiful chocolate-brown color; constant stirring is important here because it allows the butter to brown evenly and prevents the butter from burning on the bottom of the pan. (My advice as someone who messed up this step at least three times, look for a YouTube video about how to brown butter, I’ve linked one here.)
- Once the butter has browned, pour the butter into a glass liquid measuring cup that is at least 1-cup in volume. This stops the butter from cooking and also allows us to see how much water has evaporated from the butter. Set the butter aside to cool to room temperature, or place in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes to speed up the process. You want to make sure that the butter has cooled but you don’t want it to return to a solid form; if you find that it has, simply throw it back in a saucepan to melt down, and continue on to step 4.
- You will see that your room temperature, browned butter is no longer 1 full cup. Simply stir the butter and add water to the liquid measuring cup to bring it back to 1 full cup. It is very important to add the water once the butter has cooled! Doing so beforehand makes the butter foam and spill all over the place, which is a mess that is almost impossible to clean up.
- In a large bowl, add the dark brown sugar, light brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla, and cooled brown butter. With a hand mixer, cream mixture together until it becomes fluffy and, once the mixer has been removed, creates tiny, collapsing peaks.
- Crack the egg and egg yolk in a separate bowl and add to sugar mixture. Mix until back to same consistency (fluffy with collapsing peaks).
- Now add the dry ingredients, about ¼ at a time as to prevent a giant mess in your kitchen, and beat until incorporated.
- Before adding the chocolate chips, it’s important to make sure that the dough is the correct consistency. The consistency varies depending on how hot or cold your butter was before combining it into the mixture. That being said, an easy way to test the dough is by simply using your thumb and pointer finger to “pinch” the dough. If the dough feels sticky on your fingers, simply add a little bit more all-purpose flour. You will know when the dough is the right consistency when it doesn’t stick to your fingers. Less flour will make your cookie dough spread more in the oven, while more flour will make your cookies “fluffier”.
- Once you feel the dough is the correct consistency, add the chocolate chips and chocolate chunks. Using a wooden spoon, fold the chocolate into the dough. The amount of chocolate you use depends on your chocolatiness preference.
- Scoop the cookies onto a parchment-lined baking sheet in 1-tablespoon sized mounds. (Pro-tip: using a small ice cream scooper will allow this process to go much faster).
- For the best flavor, cover and refrigerate anywhere from 1 hour to 1 day. If you’re impatient like me, the cookies will still taste incredible if you bake them off right away.
- Bake in a preheated, 350°F oven for 8-10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool on a cooling rack.
- Enjoy the most epic chocolate chip cookies, ever!