CLASSIC CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

I’ve recently been on a quest to make the perfect chocolate chip cookie. After so much trial and error, I’ve come to realize there is no single best recipe and everyone loves something different. Here are two of my favorites: THICK AND CHEWY and THIN AND CRISP.

THICK AND CHEWY

Time: 50 min | Difficulty: a/5 | Servings: 13 cookies

1. Prep

Preheat your oven to 350° and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. If your butter and eggs are not at room temperature, soak in warm water for 15 min (leave butter in wrapper). This is key.

2. Brown Your Butter

Brown the butter (1 stick) in a skillet over medium heat. Stir occasionally. The butter will start to foam and then crackle. Once the butter forms an amber-brown color and has brown bits at the bottom, remove from the heat. Pour into a small bowl and let cool in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

3. Combine with Sugar

Once cooled, add your sugar and the cooled browned butter to a large bowl and beat until fully combined.

4. Vanilla and Egg

Add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated and whipped, about 1 minute more.

5. Combine Flour, Salt, Cornstarch, Baking Soda

Mix the flour, salt, cornstarch, and baking soda in a separate bowl. Using a spatula, add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and mix by hand until just barely incorporated. Do NOT overmix. Gently mix in most of the chocolate chips, but leave a small handful of chocolate out (you’ll see why in the next step).

6. Shape

Using a cookie scoop, make your cookie balls (2 tbsp of dough each) and place them on the baking sheet. This is key, gently flatten them down slightly with your fingers. They should look like little hockey pucks. Optional: Press in 1-2 chocolate chunks on top of each dough ball. Not only will they turn out beautiful, they’ll also give you melty chocolate top for sprinkled salt to adhere to.

7. Bake

Place cookies in the oven on the middle or lower rack and cook for about 13 minutes (keep an eye on them starting at the 10-minute mark — every oven is slightly different). The edges should be golden brown, but you do not want to overcook them. They will continue to set once you take them out of the oven.

8. Cool

Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes (ideally 10 min) before serving.

THIN AND CRISP

Time: 30 min | Difficulty: a/5 | Servings: 13 cookies