Thursday, March 8, 2012

How to Make Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies from Scratch: My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Learn How to Make Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies from Scratch that Everyone will love!

Chocolate chip cookies are a huge favorite among cookie and sweets fans. They are a delicious cookie that most people just can't get enough of. Have one and you have to have another and another and another...

If you want to know how to make homemade chocolate chip cookies from scratch that are easy to make and very delicious, you have come to the right place. Once you know how to make these chocolate chip cookies, you will find yourself making them time and time again.

This is my absolute favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. It is my own recipe. I started with a few basic recipes and tweaked them together to come up with a soft, chewy, chocolaty, cookie. It has taken me years of trial and error, but I've finally found the right combinations and techniques. Everyone loves my cookies, and everyone will love yours, too, if you use my chocolate chip cookie recipe.

First, get your ingredients together.

You will need the following:

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups (12 oz.) semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips

Make sure you have all the ingredients. If you're missing some, pick them up at the store before you start. Make a list and double check it before you go so that you don't forget anything. If you find out half-way through you're missing something, you're going to be upset. Once you have all the ingredients to make homemade chocolate chip cookies from scratch, you can start mixing them together.
You can use an electric mixer to mix the dough, but be careful not to 0ver-beat it once you add the eggs. It will also be more difficult to use a mixer when you're stirring in the flour. I prefer to stir it all by hand.

Butter and Sugar


Start by creaming together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. If you want, you can use the mixer for this step only, to get the best results. Make sure the butter is softened but not melted. The best way to soften it is to leave it out on the counter at room temperature for a couple hours. If you forgot to take it out, use the microwave on 50% power at 10 then 5 second increments to avoid melting.

Eggs and Vanilla

Once the butter and sugar is creamed together, mix in the vanilla and eggs. Don't beat it together, you don't want it to be frothy. This is when I usually suggest you stop using a mixer if you began with one. If you mix it too much with the eggs, you'll make your chocolate chip cookies spongy instead of chewy and moist.

Start mixing together your dry ingredients for your homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Next, get a separate bowl and measure and mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix it together well so that there are no lumps in the flour. Do not use a mixer for this step or else your kitchen will be covered with flour. You just need to stir it enough with a spoon to smooth the lumps and incorporate the baking soda and salt.

Now, you can slowly start adding the flour to the wet mixture. Mix is slowly but thoroughly. You can use an electric stand mixer with a dough hook initially, but keep it low. Again, I prefer to just use a spoon. It's a pretty simple dough that you really don't need a mixer, unless you're making several large batches.

Finally, pour in the chocolate chips and mix it all together. When you learn how to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch, you will need to mix it correctly and use all the right amounts or else they won't come out right. However, you can add an extra 1/2 cup of chocolate chips or use mini chips instead if you really love the chocolate part. This won't mess with the baking too much. They'll still taste great.

When the dough is all mixed, you can either bake them right away or put them in the fridge. The dough will stay fine in the fridge for about a week or in the freezer for about a few months. I've tweaked my recipe enough that you really don't need to refrigerate it before baking. I do recommend keeping the dough in the fridge in between scooping batches.


Time to bake your homemade chocolate chip cookies.

When the dough is ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Get a nonstick cookie sheet. You can put a sheet of parchment paper on the pan to make it easy to remove the chocolate chip cookies, but that is optional. If you do, be careful when you move the pan around after they're baked so that they don't slide off the pan. Parchment paper makes cookies easy to slide off, even when you don't want them to.

Use a spoon and make small 1 1/2 inch balls with the homemade chocolate chip cookie dough. Roll them in your hands to make perfect circles, but don't handle them too much or they will start to get warm before they get into the oven. You can also use a cookie scoop. It looks like an ice cream scoop but it is smaller and the perfect size for cookies. This will also make sure your chocolate chip cookies are even in size.


Place them on the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart and 2 inches from the edges. Put them in the oven and bake for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on your oven and how big you made the cookies. Keep an eye on them and remove them when they are lightly golden brown.

Remove them from the oven and let them cool for about 3 to 5 minutes on the pan. Then, remove them from the pan and put them on a cooling rack. Let them cool completely or you can serve them warm.

It is not hard to learn how to make chocolate chip cookies even if you are making them from scratch. Make these delicious cookies for a party, get together, or for your cookie jar. Everyone will love these warm, delicious chocolate chip cookies and will come back for more!

If you follow this chocolate chip cookie recipe, you'll make great, chewy, and chocolaty cookies every time. If you find your cookies don't come out just right, make sure you did everything correctly. Here are a few common mistakes to avoid when following this chocolate chip cookie recipe:
  1. Don't melt the butter, but make sure it's soft.
  2. Don't put in too much butter or they will flatten out too much.
  3. Don't put the balls of dough on a hot or warm cookie sheet. Let it cool completely before preparing the next batch.
  4. Don't put in too much flour or they will crumble.
  5. Don't forget the baking soda!
  6. Don't bake them too long or they will become hard.
  7. Use the light on your oven to check on the cookies instead of constantly opening the door or else you'll lose heat making them bake inconsistently.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

How to Bake a Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

Have you ever seen those giant chocolate chip cookies at the supermarket? You must wonder if they are as good as they look?

I don't know how good those are, but I know how you can make your own that tastes just as good, if not better. It's surprisingly easy to make. There really aren't any fancy giant chocolate chip cookie recipes you need to follow. Here are the techniques you need to follow.

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

I highly recommend you use the best chocolate chip cookie recipe here. This is my own personal recipe for chocolate chip cookies that I always use. It's very easy to follow and turns out amazing cookies.

Techniques

When the cookie dough is prepared, put it in the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wait until the oven is completely preheated before continuing.

Next, prepare a cookie sheet. The larger the cookie sheet, the better. This will make sure it's big enough. To make sure the cookie doesn't stick and that it's easy to move around, cover the pan with a sheet of parchment paper.

Next, plop all the dough onto the pan. Begin pressing it down with your fingers to form a circle. The circle should measure about 12 to 14 inches wide.

Make sure there is at least 2 inches around the cookie so that it has room to spread out.

Press the center down more because the dough will spread and puff up. Make the outer edge thicker. It should look like a pizza crust with a thicker edge. Again, this will help it bake evenly throughout.

Bake the cookie in the preheated oven for about 20 to 25 minutes. The cookie should be golden brown across the top of the cookie. Don't use a cake tester. Cookies do not bake the same way as a cake or brownies. You'll end up burning the cookie long before the tester comes out clean.

Let the cookie cool on the cookie sheet for at least 10 minutes. Transfer it to a wire rack to finish cooling. To transfer the cookie, you can use a large spatula, or you can lift the sides of the parchment paper and carry it to the rack.

Leave the cookie as is or decorate it with frosting, candies, etc.

Giant chocolate chip cookies make great birthday cake alternatives and are wonderful for all types of celebrations.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Mint and chocolate are excellent companions, even when it comes to chocolate chip cookies. Here is a great recipe for mint chocolate chip cookies. It's really easy to follow and tastes great. I love them because they are so nice and soft.

With this recipe, you can use chopped mint leaves or mint extract. I prefer finely chopped mint leaves, but you can use whichever you have on hand.

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup softened butter
1 tbsp finely chopped mint leaves or 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups mint chocolate chips or chopped Andes mints

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Stir in the mint and egg. You can use an electric mixer on medium speed or a spoon to mix by hand.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the first bowl of wet ingredients until the dough is thoroughly combined.


Stir in the mint chocolate chips. I prefer to use chopped Andes mints because they add varied texture and lots of chocolaty mint flavor.

Form the dough into about 1 1/2 inch balls. Use a cookie scoop for more uniform cookies. Space them out 2 to 3 inches apart on a cookie sheet.

Bake the cookies in the oven for approximately 10 to 14 minutes. They should be a light golden brown color when they are done baking.

Let them cool on the cookie sheet for about 3 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Serve with a glass of milk or a bowl of mint chip ice cream.