Thick, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Salt Lake Tribune recently printed an article on baking chocolate chip cookies. Cuisine Quest: Cookie question: Soft and chewy? Or hard and crispy? I definitely belong to the soft and chewy crowd and if you do too, you’re going to love this recipe.

The SL Tribune article is based on an article in Sunset Magazine: The perfect chocolate chip cookie – Thick and chewy or thin and crispy? How to get the chocolate chip cookie you really want. They baked more than 25 chocolate chip cookie variations to determine what makes the perfect chocolate  chip cookie.

They determined a higher moisture content makes cookies soft and chewy, which can be achieved by adjusting baking time and temperature. I was skeptical about baking cookies at 400º, but I’m always happy to try a new chocolate chip cookie recipe, so I cranked up the oven and whipped up a batch of their top rated Thick, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.

The cookies got golden brown on top really quickly and didn’t spread very much, but I went ahead and took them out after 8 minutes as the recipe recommended even though they didn’t look like they were cooked in the middle. However, I reduced the temperature for the next batch to 350º. At the lower temperature the cookies baked up just like traditional chocolate chip cookies.

The first batch of cookies, after they had a chance to set up and cool were thick and chewy and better than the cookies baked at a lower temperature. In the end, I regretted baking the second tray of cookies at a lower temperature.  (The cookies on the right in the picture above are the cookies baked at the higher temperature and the cookies on the left are the thinner cookies baked at 350º.)

This is my new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and I definitely won’t be baking them at a lower temperature next time.

What about you? Do you like your chocolate chip cookies thin and crispy or thick and chewy?

Thick, chewy chocolate chip cookies
slightly adapted from Sunset Magazine

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 400º.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar, on medium speed, until well blended. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add flour mixture; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans, if using.

Drop dough in 2-tablespoon portions, 2 inches apart, onto baking pans. Bake until the cookies are lightly browned and no longer wet in the center, 6 to 8 minutes; if baking more than one pan at a time, switch pan positions halfway through baking. (Take the cookies out of the oven 1 or 2 minutes before the cookies are cooked, as they will continue to cook on the baking pans.)

Let cookies cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet before transferring cookies to racks to cool completely.

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