Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay. I make SO MUCH cookie dough in my little kitchen that it's only appropriate for me to share it with you! I don't mean to make so much cookie dough, but it is just so handy to have in stock in case of an emergency...and trust me, there are occasions that call for cookie dough in a flash! You might not think so, but when your husband invites a bunch of friends over- easy. Or when he tells you the night before that there is an office potluck or a cookie exchange at work the next day- done. Or when he needs a little treat and asks for a pizookie at night- check. (I'm just going to blame it all on Peter-- of course I don't ever eat cookies ;)


Sure, you could always buy some refrigerated store-bought cookie dough... but for half the price, why not make a WHOLE BOWL and store it yourself to have on hand?


This is a wonderfully chewy, chocolate chip cookie. Basically, I started with a classic recipe and then increased the brown sugar and decreased the white sugar. When you use brown sugar for these cookies, use dark brown sugar. The brown comes from molasses, and the darker it is the more molasses there is. You want more molasses because that is what makes the cookies bake out nice and chewy! Also, most baked-goods recipes call for unsalted butter, but I always use salted butter... always. It is important to have that salty contrast to enhance the flavor of whatever sweet goodies you are baking!


Recipe: 

• 2 sticks of Salted Butter, at room temp
• 1 cup of firmly packed Dark Brown Sugar
• 1/2 cup Granulated White Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 1/4 cups Flour
• 12 oz. (or about 2 cups) Chocolate Chips

In a medium sized bowl, cream together your softened butter, sugars, and vanilla. Then add in the eggs, salt, and baking soda. When that is all well combined, mix in the flour: 

Then I stir in the chocolate chips. I can't explain why I do this, but for some reason I just don't like using the mixer to stir in the chips. You can certainly use the mixer if you don't want to mess up a good spoon for no reason.

 Bake them at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 12 minutes (if they are this average cookie-size pictured here), or 15 minutes or so if you are making big cookies or pizookies.

When I take the cookies out of the oven, I transfer them to a cooling rack for just a few minutes so that they can mellow out and become flat and chewy!

Mmmmmm... cookie dough! 

 With the leftover bowl of dough, I let it chill for a few minutes in the fridge, roll it out into individual balls on a cookie sheet. Then I let that firm up in the fridge again....

 ...and then baggie them up in batches to be stored in the fridge or freezer. The only unfortunate thing is that Peter likes to sneak my stock of cookie dough balls... and then when an event arises and I need cookies on call- they're gone!

If you store your baggies of dough in the freezer,  you will want to let them sit out and thaw for a bit before baking them- otherwise, the centers may stay too cold and firm and they might not flatten all the way out when they bake. 
HOWEVER, I know I don't usually get that much notice before I need to pop some in the oven. If you find yourself needing cookies on short notice, I can pop them straight from the freezer to the oven. THEN PREHEAT the oven and let the cookies warm up while the oven does the same. Start your cook time once the oven reaches temp, and press the cookies down with a fork half way through baking :)