Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who doesn't love chocolate chip cookies?  We're big fans and I have a family favorite recipe, but I recently stumbled upon a really interesting technique for making really big, really soft, really chewy CCCs that piqued my curiosity so I thought I'd share them with you. 

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Mmmm. Look how big these cookies are. Let’s make some, shall we?

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The dough is super easy to mix by hand.

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I usually use a #50 scoop for cookies, but these cookies are much larger - they use a #20 scoop.

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Sally suggests chilling the dough well before using a scoop to portion the dough, but I scooped it first, then chilled.  Either way, chilling the dough anywhere from 2 hours to 3 days is very important (be sure to cover it well with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out in the fridge).

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When it's time to bake the cookies, use the heat of your hands to roll the cookie dough into smooth balls.

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Then shape each of the dough balls into a barrel shape - they should be a bit taller than they are wide. Place 3 chocolate chips on top of each (not necessary, but doing so will look nice then the cookies are done). Place on prepared sheet pans; bake and cool as directed.

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Yum!

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes 12 cookies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups (280 grams) all purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

• 3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, melted

• 3/4 cup (135 grams) light brown sugar, loosely packed

• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

• 1 large egg, room temperature

• 1 egg yolk, room temperature

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

• 1 cup (180 grams) chocolate chips or candy coated chocolate pieces (or a combination thereof)

• 48 chocolate chips for decoration (optional)

Directions 

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth.

3. Whisk in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the reserved flour mixture and mix with a spoon or spatula until well combined.

5. Fold in the chocolate chips and/or candy coated chocolate pieces.

6. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for anywhere from 2 hours to 3 days (Sally says this step is mandatory).

7. When it's time to bake the cookies, preheat oven to 325F and prepare 2 half sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

8. Allow the cookie dough to sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes.

9. Use a #20 scoop to measure out each cookie (the cookies are big - about 3 tablespoons each).

10. Use the warmth of your hands to roll each dough portion smooth and shape into a ball, and then into a barrel (so the dough is a little taller than it is wide - that way they'll puddle into perfect mounds while baking).

11. Place 8 portions of dough on each sheet pan and top each with 3 chocolate chips as shown. If dough gets too soft, chill for several minutes before baking

12. Bake cookies, one sheet pan at a time, in the center of the oven for 11-12 minutes.

13. Remove from oven and allow cookies to rest on hot sheet pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to finish cooling (don't be alarmed if the cookies look underbaked when they're removed from the oven).

adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

Purple Peruvian Potato Chips

Today is Halloween so I thought I'd share these neat purple potato chips I made recently. I won't go into all the details of how here, but you see a quick photo tutorial here on my post for Small Batch Potato Chips.  Have a safe holiday out there!

The process is very easy - here's how:

Heat the oil to about 350F.  You don't have to use an oil thermometer.  Check the oil temperature by dropping one potato slice into the oil.  If it bubbles like this, the oil is hot enough to make chips.  

Heat about an inch of oil in a good quality nonstick pan.  I'm using my favorite nonstick by Swiss Diamond - it can hold up to the heat and clean up is a breeze.  

Working in small batches, fry a few chips at a time until the edges begin to curl and turn golden brown, then flip.

Continue frying on second side until they are nice and toasty all over.  Don't let them go too long - they'll darken a bit as they cool.

Drain chips on paper towels and sprinkle with very finely milled popcorn salt while they're still warm.  Because the popcorn salt is so finely milled, it sticks to the chips better than table or kosher salt.

Purple Peruvian Potato Chips

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• purple peruvian potatoes

• peanut or canola oil

• popcorn salt to taste

Directions

1. Slice potatoes very thin using a mandolin slicer (about 1/32-inch thick).

2. Heat about an inch of oil in a saucepan until the oil reaches 350F (I use a thermometer and a good quality non-stick saucepan).

3. Carefully slide individual potato slices into the hot oil, being careful not to overcrowd the pan (this process will take several batches).

4. When the edges of the potato slices begin to curl and brown, carefully turn the slices over.

5. Use a heat proof scoop to remove potato chips from pan when the desired color is achieved; drain well on paper towels.

6. Immediately sprinkle lightly with popcorn salt.

Note

• Popcorn salt is very fine and will stick to the chips better than kosher or table salt.

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