You may be asking yourself, "Why only two chocolate chip cookies?" The answer is simple. I cannot be trusted with more than that. Yes. It's true. When it comes to chocolate chip cookies, I AM the original cookie monster.
When the children were growing up, I always made sure they had fresh baked cookies several times a week. I had grown up with store bought cookies and so I wanted to make sure my children had fresh baked. I swear the first sheet pan of them out of the oven magically disappeared! 😟 I learned through the years that not even frozen cookies were safe from the Cookie Monster. If anything they were even more enjoyed. 'Nuff said.
When I saw this cookie recipe which makes only TWO BIG CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES, I just had to bake them! The original recipe comes from a book I have entitled The One Bowl Baker, by Stephanie Simmons. It is the first recipe I have baked from the book and if it is any indication of the others, I will tell you straight up, run, don't walk to your local bookstore and snap this book up!
These are PERFECT Chocolate Chip Cookies. They come out roughly the size of a bread and butter plate, and they are crispy edged and chewy middled and stuffed generously with plenty of chocolate chips.
I gave one to my sister for her partner who just adores Chocolate Chip Cookies and I selfishly kept one for myself. I am trying to make it last over a couple of days because . . . I don't need to be eating a whole one of these in one go, no matter how delicious they are.
I have made it almost 24 hours now and I still have a quarter of my cookie left. Will it make it tomorrow? Rumor has it that it won't. 😉 It may not even make it until the end of the afternoon. Just as tasty today as it was yesterday. These be dangerous. VERY dangerous indeed.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
TO MAKE
TWO BIG CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
The usual suspects. There is nothing out of the ordinary here. Note - I used the weight measures when making these cookies. So much more accurate than any other way to bake.
- 1/4 cup (57g) butter, at room temperature
- 3 TBS (45g) granulated sugar
- 3 TBS (42g) packed soft light brown sugar
- 2 TBS (30ml) beaten egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup (93g) all-purpose plain flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- pinch salt
- generous 1/2 cup (110g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
I like to make sure all of my ingredients are at room temperature before I start mixing them together. This helps things to amalgamate much more evenly. You don't end up with lumps of butter in the dough. I also like to rub the brown sugar between my fingers so that you don't get lumps of brown sugar.
I used salted butter.
In the UK I would use castor sugar instead of granulated sugar. The granulated sugar over there is much coarser than the granulated sugar in Canada. I used Kirkland organic granulated sugar.
My egg was a large egg. 2 TBS is approximately half of the egg, beaten.
I used Kirkland brand semi-sweet chocolate chips. A good quality chocolate chip pays for itself in taste and texture. I use only pure chocolate chips.
HOW TO MAKE
TWO BIG CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
These go together quickly and easily in much the same way as most cookies do. You will need to chill the dough for half an hour before baking, so bear that in mind.
- Cream the butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. (It is imperative that the butter be at room temperature, the egg also.)
- Sift the flour, soda and salt together. Stir this into the creamed mixture until well combined. (This is to make sure the soda is equally distributed in the flour.)
- Stir in the chocolate chips. (Yes, it is a lot but trust me it works. Another time you may want to cut back on the chocolate chips and add nuts or raisins or both in their place.)
- Cover and refrigerate the cookie dough for 30 minutes. (This is important to the success of this cookie.)
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Line a medium sized baking tray with some baking parchment. (Not totally necessary to line the baking sheet, but I always do just in case.)
- Divide the chilled dough into two, and shape into two evenly sized balls. (I weighed out the dough and then cut it in half. It worked out to 6 ounces or 180g each.)
- Place well-spaced apart on the baking sheet. Press down gently to flatten slightly. (You want to make sure they don't touch each other when baking. You also want them to bake evenly and not be raw in the middle, hence the slight pressing down.)
- Bake in the preheated oven for 16 to 18 minutes until light golden brown and crispy around the edges. (You can freeze the cookie dough balls if you wish and bake from frozen. They will take 16 to 19 minute to bake straight from the freezer.)
- Leave to cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool slightly. (Bear in mind they will continue to bake on the heat of the baking sheet for a short time after removing from the oven.)
- Dig in while still warm. You're welcome! (An ice-cold glass of milk works very well with these!)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
about baking most cookies
CRISP OR CHEWY COOKIES?
If you prefer crisp cookies, press the dough flat with the bottom of a glass dipped in granulated sugar prior to baking. If you want soft chewy cookies, remove them from the oven about 2 minutes before they are done as they will continue to bake on the hot cookie sheet. If you want crisp cookies bake them for 2 minutes longer.
HOW CAN I KEEP MY COOKIES FROM SPREADING TOO MUCH?
- Don't substitute butter for shortening in a recipe which calls for shortening. shortening has a higher melting point, which means it doesn't liquify as quickly, and does a better job of holding the ingredients together. High butter cookie = a cookie that spreads.
- Grease your baking sheets only if the recipe requests you to do so. Most cookies will not stick unless they contain large amounts of butter or sugar.
- Make sure you preheat your oven before baking. If the oven is not hot enough the fat in the cookies will melt before the other ingredients have time to set up.
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO STORE COOKIES?
Cool cookies completely before storing. Pack them in single layers between wax or parchment paper to prevent sticking. Do NOT store crisp and soft cookies together in the same container. Store in an airtight container.
HOW DO I FREEZE COOKIES PROPERLY?
To freeze cookies, place them into airtight containers or freezer bags, again with a layer of wax paper or parchment paper in between the layers. Again, do not store soft and crisp cookies together. They will keep up to six months frozen. Label properly with the type and the date baked/frozen.
HINTS & TIPS FOR
BAKING COOKIES SUCCESSFULLY
These hints and tips are sure to help you make the best cookies ever.
- Use flat cookie sheets without sides for even baking.
- Place cookies at least 2-inches apart on baking sheets to allow for spreading.
- Use a sheet of baking parchment or a light spritz of cooking spray to grease your cookie sheets. It's not necessary to repeat this step for every batch but do wipe off any crumbs or sugar fm the surface before adding the next batch.
- Place your cookie sheets in the middle of the oven.
- Make sure the sides of your cookie sheets don't touch the edges of the oven so that heat can circulate evenly and properly.
- Pay particular attention to bake times. An extra minute or two can make a big difference to the end result since cookies are for the most part quite small and bake quickly. Always aim to underbake rather than overbake. Cookies do continue to bake after you remove them from the oven.
A FEW OTHER
SMALL BATCH BAKING RECIPES
TO ENJOY
If you have a small family like I do, or if you, likewise, cannot be trusted to keep your snuffler out of the cookie jar, you might also be tempted by the following small batch baked goodies.
SMALL BATCH AMISH SUGAR COOKIES - This is a cookie I used to bake for my children quite often when they were growing up. I used to try to have some kind of a treat waiting for them every day when they got home from school. This is a great recipe. I actually won a ribbon at the county fair back home one year with them, so you know these are really good cookies. You can leave them plain, or you can glaze them if you like. I actually really like them both ways! Delicious, delicious, delicious! Recipe makes 2 1/2 dozen.
LEMON FROSTED GINGERBREAD COOKIE BARS -These lush bars are crisp edged and chewy middled. The recipe makes exactly 8 nice sized bars. No more, no less.
I suppose you could cut them larger, but there is such a thing as too much goodness, and that would be it.
These tasty bars are buttery and flavored with molasses and vanilla, as well as plenty of warm baking spices. I do so love the warm baking spices, don't you??
Cinnamon, Ginger, Cloves, Allspice . . . they are all in there . . . you could also add a touch of ground cardamom as well if you wished. It would not go amiss.
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Yield: 2 large cookies
Two Really Big Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 40 MinCook time: 18 MinInactive time: 10 MinTotal time: 1 H & 8 M
Two deliciously large chocolate chip cookies. One for you and one for gifting. Nobody needs to know you ate the whole thing. It can be our little secret.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (57g) butter, at room temperature
- 3 TBS (45g) granulated sugar
- 3 TBS (42g) packed soft light brown sugar
- 2 TBS (30ml) beaten egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup (93g) all-purpose plain flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- pinch salt
- generous 1/2 cup (110g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Cream the butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
- Sift the flour, soda and salt together. Stir this into the creamed mixture until well combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Cover and refrigerate the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Line a medium sized baking tray with some baking parchment.
- Divide the chilled dough into two, and shape into two evenly sized balls.
- Place well spaced apart on the baking sheet. Press down gently to flatten slightly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 16 to 18 minutes until light golden brown and crispy around the edges.
- Leave to cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool slightly.
- Dig in while still warm. You're welcome!
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Oh, this recipe is simultaneously perfect and dangerous! My favorite cookie as well as my husband's. Thanks!
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