The Chewy

(above) Alton Brown's "The Chewy" Chocolate Chip Cookies

See the cookies? They are delicious. Definitely the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever made. This, Alton Brown, is now my go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies (CCCs). I don't think I can rave enough about these. Where should I start? Well, for one, I think these are the most attractive CCCs I've ever made, not to mention the best tasting. The batter smells reminiscent of butterscotch and the cookies are excellent. They are just the right combination of soft and chewy, and pretty much sum up anything you could ever ask for out of a cookie. I guess its a little weird that I'm spending the first week of my summer vacation raving about cookies, but hey, that's what I do - I'm a food blogger (...and a baker ..and a girl who eats copious amounts of baked goods... you get the picture?). I did follow the recipe (almost) to the T, even buying a bag of bread flour just to make these. However, I didn't have kosher salt so I used a scant half teaspoon of regular table salt.

(above) The melting your butter. Heat it up and stir it until it just melts and the chunks disappear.

(above) "Creaming" (its not really creaming, more like mixing it until it resembles sludge) the butter and sugars.

(above) I made my cookies smaller than Alton's. I let my dough chill for one hour and scooped it out by rounded tablespoonfuls.


(above) Slightly undercooked cookies.

Since I made my cookies smaller, the baking time also had to be adjusted. I baked then for around 7 and a half minutes. One pan of my first batch came out a little undone, but the other pan was perfect. One pan always seems to cook things just a smidgen faster than the other, which can be really annoying. It took me a while to figure out how long to bake it on each pan (it really depends on how temperamental your pan is). By the way, the cookie was still tasty nonetheless.

(above) The most amazing CCCs. I commend you, Alton Brown.


The Chewy (Chocolate Chip Cookies)

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
2. Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.
   

Recipe from Alton Brown on Food Network. The recipe can also be found here.

Notes: I substituted the kosher salt with a scant half teaspoon of table salt. I made smaller cookies (rounded tablespoonfuls of dough) and baked them for approximately 7 - 9 minutes, depending on the pan. The recipe made a little over 3 dozen of these cookies.