The Chocolate Chip Cookies of my dreams!
Recipe video. These are my idea of the perfect chocolate chip cookie - superior crispy outsides, soft baked inside with excellent chew, buttery with butterscotch tones and a milk-dark chocolate combo that's just right. And they're BIG (2.5cm/1" thick, 11cm/4.5" wide) - intended for high impact!Inspired by Australia's famous Butter Boy milk choc cookies, it took 48 attempts to perfect these. For best results, use scales and do not skip the 12 hour dough chill (see note 5). Also see Troubleshooting and FAQ below recipe card for extra tips.IMPORTANT: If you don't have a sweet tooth, these are not for you! Sugar cannot be decreased without compromising results (I really tried). These are unapologetically outrageous in every way!
Servings: 8 big cookies (11 cm/4.5" wide, 2.5cm/1" thick, 150g/5oz each!)
Ingredients
- 225g / 2 US sticks unsalted butter , cut into 1cm / 1/2" cubes
Dry ingredients:
- 2 cups (300g) plain flour / all-purpose flour , spooned and levelled (IMPORTANT - Note 1)
- 3 tsp cornflour/cornstarch , tightly pack and level the spoon measure
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda / bi-carb , sifted if lumpy (don't sub more baking powder, Note 2)
- 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, +50% for flakes)
Wet ingredients:
- 1 tightly packed cup (200g) brown sugar (light brown sugar)
- 1/2 cup (100g) caster sugar / superfine super (sub regular/granulated)
- 1 large egg (55g / 2 oz in shell), at room temp
- 1 yolk from a large egg , at room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Choc chips (Note 3):
- 1 1/2 cups (250g) dark chocolate chips / semi-sweet choc chips, plus extra for decorating
- 3/4 cup (150g) milk chocolate chips
Instructions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE:
- Brown butter, cool, hand mix in sugar, then egg + vanilla. Mix in whisked Dry, adding choc towards end. Form 8 x 155g (1/2 cup) discs 3.75cm/1.5" thick. Fridge 12 -24 hrs. Bake from fridge cold 4 at a time, 180°C/350°F (170°C fan) 17 min, top with more choc while hot if desired. Cool 20 min on tray, attack!
FULL RECIPE:
Browned butter:
- Simmer to brown - Put the butter in a silver saucepan or small pan over medium high heat. Once melted, let it simmer (as in, bubbling) for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring every now and then, until it gets real foamy, you see little golden specks (wade through foam to see) and it smells nutty & extra buttery.
- Cool - Immediately pour into a heatproof bowl, including all those golden specks. Cool to room temperature (~45 minutes), cool enough so it won't melt the choc chips (Note 4)
Dough:
- Whisk Dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Mix Wet - To the browned butter, add both sugars and mix with a wooden spoon. Add the egg, yolk and vanilla. Mix until smooth - it will look caramel.
- Finish dough - Add the Dry ingredients and mix until the flour is mostly incorporated. Add the choc chips and stir until the flour is fully incorporated.
- Make dough discs - Measure out 8 x 155g (5.3 oz/ 1/2 cup) portions of dough, roll into a ball then shape into a 3.75cm/1.5" thick round disc. Place in a very airtight container. (Note 5 for smaller cookies)
CHILLING:
- Fridge 12 hours - Refrigerate for 12 hours, up to 48 hours (Note 6 for different chill times).
BAKING:
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (170°C fan-forced). (Note 7)
- Place 4 fridge-cold cookies 7.5 cm/3" apart on a tray lined with baking paper/parchment paper. (Note 8 baking tips)
- Bake for 17 minutes or until the edges are golden and the surface is just set (ie not melty raw dough) but still pale.
- Decorate and cool - Working quickly, press extra choc chips on the surface (Note 9), then cool on the tray for 20 minutes - finishes baking, edges crisp more and they get more golden all over.Tip: While hot, you can also reshape with a rubber spatula or similar into a tidy round shape.
- Grab now - peak eating moment! Or, transfer to a rack to cool fully before storing in an airtight container.
Notes
* Recipe can be scaled up as desired. If doubling, you can use 3 whole eggs instead of 2 whole eggs + 2 yolks. Suggest using stand mixer as dough gets quite thick towards end!*
1. Measuring 225g butter without scales - don't guesstimate using packet markings!! Melt butter and measure 235ml using a jug (or 1 cup then remove 1 tablespoon), THEN brown the butter (once browned, butter is 180 - 190g). And yes, it's 235ml, not 225ml (1g butter = 1.043173 ml).
US readers - not applicable to you, just use 2 sticks!
2. Measuring flour (important!) - Scales best (and efficient). If using cups, spoon flour into cups then level surface. Do not dunk cup measure into flour tub or bag (flour settles = 2 cups will be more than 300g = your cookies will puff more). *I am not usually this pedantic, only when a recipe is more sensitive than usual*
2. Baking soda (bi-carb) - don't substitute with more baking powder if you don't have baking soda, it will make the cookies puff up into rock-cake form. You need baking soda!
3. Choc chips - Milk choc chips are considerably sweeter so I like a combination of dark and milk so it's not overwhelmingly sweet. Feel free to use more or less of either (I realise 400g is a neat 2 x standard Australian 200g packs!) or cut your own chocolate, for larger melty pools of chocolate (I prefer the littering of smaller chips all throughout, plus it's more convenient - and I plan to make these cookies a lot, forever!)
4. Cooled browned butter - Cool enough so it won't melt the sugar or melt the choc chips, but not so cold the edges solidify (if it does, re-melt and cool again).
5. Smaller cookies - This recipe works great for smaller cookies too but roll them into balls instead of forming fat discs. Here are the bake times:
- 1 tbsp (#20 cookie scoop) - 12 to 13 minutes
- 2 tbsp (#40 cookie scoop) - 13 to 14 minutes
- 3 tbsp (~60g/2oz/#20 cookie scoop) - 14 minutes
- 12 - 24 hrs - Recommended, for pure cookie nirvana.
- 24 - 48 hours - As above, pure perfection
- 3 - 5 days - Diminishing returns, better to freeze at 12 hours, then thaw on demand.
- 5 hrs - My absolute minimum. If I can't do this, I make Oatmeal Browned Butter Cookies
- 8 hrs - My target minimum, deemed "company worthy"
- No chilli time - Doesn't work, cookie spreads way too much
- 1 hr minimum chill time - increase cornflour by 2 teaspoons, follow recipe. It's not as perfect as a 12 hr chill but it's still much better than your average cookie!
- Emergency choc chip cookies, regular size, easier, faster, no chill time here.