Amazing Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Great to Have You Back!

If any of y’all are like us, you have a go-to dessert recipe for when the sugar cravings hit or you want to relax with a favorite snack. For us, it’s chocolate chip cookies. But, these aren’t just any chocolate chip cookies. When we got married, Tim was very much NOT a fan of chocolate chip cookies. But sometimes I’d try different recipes to see if I could find one he did like. Because, Hello… Chocolate!

A couple of years ago, I found a recipe that sounded promising and decided to give it another try. Now, when I make something, it is pretty rare for me to follow the recipe exactly. So I did my usual and tweaked these. The original recipe called for nuts, and while I don’t have any problems with nuts, I don’t often use them in cookies. Instead, I increased the amount of flour.

I mixed up all of the ingredients, placed the cookies on the sheet, and baked them for two minutes less than the recipe said. With bated breath, I pulled the finished cookies out of the oven and watched as Tim sampled one. And something wonderful and new happened!

Alright, I may have gotten a little dramatic there, but something exciting did happen. Tim quickly proclaimed them the best chocolate chip cookies he had ever eaten, and the rest of the batch quickly followed the first as he and the kids (and me, too) basically inhaled them.

You might now be curious about what makes this recipe so special—why these cookies stand out from the rest. Well, there are a couple things that I think really made the difference for us.

1. Dark Chocolate

I might be stepping into a controversial subject (I don’t know), but my family is of the firm opinion that dark chocolate is VASTLY superior to milk chocolate or even semi-sweet chocolate. It keeps the rich decadent taste of chocolate without overloading on the sweet taste.

2. Firm Dough

Again, each to their own, but I like my cookie dough firm enough that it doesn’t spread all out in the oven. That way, the cookies come out thick enough to have soft chewy centers instead of being flat and crispy.

3. Shorter Bake Time

I pull these cookies out of the oven before the centers look completely set and dry. It keeps some of the moisture in them so they stay soft and moist for several days. Tim actually likes them best a day or two after baking, when the flavors have had plenty of time to blend.

So what’s in these cookies? It’s pretty much what you would expect.

• Butter – I have used both salted and unsalted butter in this recipe and both work. I normally use salted without having to adjust the salt amount.
• Sugar – I use raw natural sugar, but plain white sugar works too. I also cut the sugar amount as we don’t like them really sweet, but if you prefer a sweeter cookie increase the sugar by a 1/4 cup.
• Brown Sugar – My preference is dark brown sugar as it adds a deeper taste, almost a caramel-ly taste. Light brown sugar works great too, though. I have even made my own brown sugar by adding molasses to raw sugar.
• Vanilla – I use real vanilla extract, but imitation vanilla would probably work as well.
• Eggs – I have only ever used chicken egg for this recipe. Hopefully, one of these days I can let you know how it works with duck eggs! I have never used an egg substitute.
• Salt – My normal is pink Himalayan salt, but white table salt is fine too.
• Baking Soda – Pretty basic, I think.
• Flour – I use organic white flour. I don’t have any experience with whole wheat flour or nut flours in this recipe.
• Dark Chocolate Chips – And last, but not least, the star of the show! I have used milk chocolate mini chips and semi-sweet chocolate morsels, but my definite favorite is dark chocolate chips. The darker the better. You can use a bit more than the recipe calls for with no problem or can cut it down and use less. I often use less as Tim really likes the taste of the actual cookie dough with only occasional chocolate chips.

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Our Family-Favorite Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 Cup of Butter, Softened
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 3 Cups Flour
• 1 1/2 Cups Dark Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cream the butter, sugars, and vanilla together in a stand mixer until creamy.

3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one.

4. Switch to dough hook and mix in salt, baking soda, and flour. The dough may look crumbly but usually fixes itself once the flour is all mixed in.

5. Mix in chocolate chips.

6. Place thick rounds of dough about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

7. Bake for 8 minutes for soft and chewy cookies. 10 minutes if you want a crispier cookie.

8. Let them cool—if you can resist! At our house, they rarely last that long.