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chewy chocolate chip cookies
This recipe uses some secret techniques to create super chewy chocolate chip cookies. The only thing missing? A tall glass of milk for dunking.
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Prepare Ingredients
Gather Baking Equipment
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Parchment paper prevents the cookies from sticking to the baking sheet.
In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
In large bowl, whisk brown sugar, melted butter, and granulated sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and whisk until well combined.
Add flour mixture and use rubber spatula to stir until just combined and no streaks of flour are visible. Add chocolate chips and stir until evenly combined. (If dough is really sticky, place bowl in refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes before proceeding with step 5.)
Use your hands to roll dough into 12 balls (about 2 tablespoons each). Place dough balls on baking sheet, leaving space between balls.
Leave 2 inches between dough balls, arranging them in staggered rows so they don’t melt into each other.
Place baking sheet in oven. Bake cookies until edges are set and beginning to brown but centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 20 minutes.
Food for Thought
The Science of Chewy Cookies
The classic back-of-the-bag recipe calls for softening butter on the counter, which takes at least 30 minutes. Using melted butter not only is faster but also creates a chewier cookie. Butter is about 20 percent water, and melting it allows this water to mix more easily with the flour to create gluten—the proteins that make cookies chewy. Using a lot of dough for each cookie also makes them especially chewy. Finally, remove the baking sheet from oven when the cookies look almost done. The cookies will finish baking as the hot baking sheet cools.
How to Melt Butter
Butter can be melted in a small saucepan on the stove (use medium-low heat), but we think the microwave is easier. Here’s how to do it:
Cut butter into 1-tablespoon pieces. Place butter in microwave-safe bowl.
Place bowl in microwave and cover bowl with small plate. Use 50 percent power to heat butter until melted, 30 to 60 seconds (longer if melting a lot of butter). Watch butter and stop microwave as soon as butter has melted. Use oven mitts to remove bowl from microwave.
