How to Make Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's how you put the ingredients in.

What you need to know is how and why each ingredient is essential to the recipe. With this knowledge, you can bake some awesome good chocolate chip cookies-and you can also take the information you learn here and utilize it in other cookies-even in your cakes and other baked goods.

For copyright reasons, I cannot put the Toll House or any other kind of cookie recipe in this article; however, I can tell you this is the basic standard for most cookies. Even other companies' cookie recipes don't diverge far from one another. Just grab your favorite cookie recipe (or a bag of chocolate chips) and follow my suggestions.

Equipment to Use

Stand Mixer: If you don't have a stand mixer, I strongly encourage you to consider getting one. Not only are they easier with mixing a thick dough, but they do a better job. I suggest a KitchenAid™.

Cookie Sheets: Use a dull aluminum sheet. Shiny sheets tend to reflect the heat off the sheet and...well, you want that heat in your cookie.

Parchment Paper: Certainly not a must but I encourage its use. Parchment paper will not melt in the oven (as long as it's not over 500 degrees Fahrenheit) and it also ensures a nicely browned bottom to your cookie.

Beware, though: Wax paper and parchment are not interchangeable-unless you want your cookies to taste like crayons, that is. Wax paper will also melt in the oven. Trust me.

Cookie Dropper: You can find these in most any discount store, such as Target or Walmart, and they're rather convenient. They resemble an ice cream scoop-just smaller. Yes, you can just use a spoon, but cookie droppers are inexpensive and contribute to consistency in the size of your cookies, which contributes to the consistency in doneness. I suggest finding a metal cookie dropper as opposed to a plastic one. Metal lasts longer.

Read the Recipe First

I never did understand this gem of encouragement; it just seemed rather...unnecessary to me. I could just read as I went and I would be fine, right?

Wrong.

It pays to be prepared, and I've caught myself in so many moments where I could have had less stress if I'd just known about something first. Of course, this isn't necessary in a recipe you're already familiar with, but if you're like me where I would simply put the ingredients in the bowl in the order they were listed...well, it doesn't make for awesome cookies.

As I mentioned before, it's not what you put in, but how you put it in. The recipe you are using will help you to understand the best way to put each ingredient in, and sometimes this requires preparation. Timing can be everything, so if you're caught going back and forth wasting time, you could be wasting a good cookie.

For example, not every recipe (though most for cookies) call for the baker to sift the dry ingredients first, or have "softened" butter. Though it may not seem like it, these are important aspects to the recipe that you must heed in order to make the best cookie possible.

More times than not, I'll be working my way through an unfamiliar recipe and want to smack myself on the head for not reading it first. Don't be like me. Read your recipes before you even think to begin.

Put Out the Butter and Eggs

If applicable-and be sure to check the recipe first to ensure you know just how soft (if at all) the butter should be, or if there's a requirement for the egg to be cold-put out your butter and egg(s) at least a half hour to an hour before baking time. For cookies, you want to be able to make a soft finger imprint in the cube. If your finger breaks through the butter, then it's too soft. If you have soft butter, then you'll have a very thin, too-crisp, possibly burnt cookie. If the butter is too cold, then the cookie won't flatten and you'll have a cakey cookie that resembles the lump you plopped down on the baking sheet. If that's what you like, fine, but if you want a tender, crispy, melt-in-your-mouth cookie, be sure the cube is at least room temperature.

The same goes with eggs. You may wonder why do I need to have room temp eggs? Isn't that bad?

No. First of all, you're not going to have your egg out nearly long enough for it to be an issue (unless it's an old or cracked egg, in which case you should probably get some fresher eggs). Room temperature eggs are rather important in any recipe, and it has to do with emulsion. In cookies, you tend to cream first room temperature butter and sugars, and then add the egg(s). The fat in the butter does not want to mix well with the liquid in the eggs in the first place, but if the eggs are cold, it will only result in a curdled liquid. Room temperature eggs are much more successful in emulsifying (mixing) in with the butter.

If you decided to skip this step, the emulsion could break, and this may result in a grainy or flat texture, devoid of flavor--and nobody wants that.

So set out your eggs!

Shortcut Tip: For those of us who are in a hurry or just plain forget this step, there is a shortcut-but you have to be careful. For the eggs, place them in a warm water bath and let them sit until you need them. Generally speaking with cookies, you won't need them right away anyway. This can take ten minutes as opposed to the thirty you need (at least) when you set them out on their own.

As for the butter, you can toss this in the microwave. Put it inside a bowl and only, only put it in for about ten seconds-and watch it even then. Once you've reached that melting point, it takes time to go back.

Preheat Your Oven

I used to think this was unnecessary, but it is. You want that oven to be at temp when you toss those cookies in so they'll cook evenly (the temperature going up as they cook isn't a good idea) and in the least amount of time. If you turn on your oven before you get going with the recipe-and you're prepared because you've read the recipe first-the timing should be perfect.

That said, some cookie recipes, like for snickerdoodles, require you to wait a couple hours before you throw anything in the oven: yet another reason to read that recipe first.

Sift the Dry Ingredients First

When I was young, my mom taught me to mix the dry ingredients and then incorporate the wet. I started only looking at the ingredients list and adding them in the bowl in the order they were listed. While this doesn't create a bad cookie, I learned some years ago I could do much better.

The idea is right, though. The first thing you want to do is sift together each of the dry ingredients. This includes the salt, flour, and baking soda/powder.

And yes, you really ought to sift the ingredients together even if your flour bag insists it's "pre-sifted."

Why? Because the flour has been compacted in the bag. If you let drop a compacted cup of flour in the bowl, you probably have more flour than is necessary (and this can result in a cakey cookie. If you don't mind that, then by all means, go for it).

You don't need any fancy sifter to get this job done, either. If you have a large mesh strainer, this will work just fine. Let the flour come into the measuring cup, level the top off with a knife, and then sift through the strainer. Other recipes may tell you to sift first, then measure, but I haven't found it makes too much of a difference, as long as you don't compact the flour in the measuring cup before leveling it off.

Just remember: you want air in your cookie batter. Really. That's what makes for tender cookies.

As far as sifting the flour with the baking soda/powder and salt, this is only there as a way of mixing it in. You could always whisk it in if you forgot to add it with the flour.

Taste your Chocolate Chips (if applicable)

Yes! This is important, especially before moving on to the next step of adding your sugars in the mixing bowl. Why?

Every chip tastes different.

If you're already familiar with the taste of your particular brand of chip, then you can skip this step. However, if you're using a new brand of chip, I strongly suggest you taste it. The gourmet chips, such as Ghirardelli™, taste much different than do the Toll House™. They can taste more bittersweet or milk chocolatey than your normal brand.

If you're using a different kind of chip, as in bittersweet instead of semi-sweet, or milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet (or even M&Ms™), you need to know the sugar contents are different. Bittersweet (or dark chocolate) chips are less sweet than semi-sweet, and semi-sweet is less sweet than milk chocolate. You need to know how sweet it is before you just go tossing in the amount of sugar called for in the recipe. It's not against the law to adjust for flavors-in fact, you want to, and I suggest adjusting the amount of sugar by at least 1/8 cup as appropriate if you diverge from the kind of chocolate called for in the recipe you use.

Cream the Butter/Shortening and Sugars

"Creaming" the fats and sugars is one of those standard operating procedures used in almost every baking recipe (I said almost every recipe, so read yours first). Before I get into why, I want to discuss the differences between butter, margarine, and shortening.

Some use margarine because it's cheaper. I get that, but you just do not want to use this in your cooking (and arguably, in anything). First of all, margarine lacks the full flavor of butter, and creates a less-than-superior texture. Besides, it's full of trans fats, the kind that raise the level of "bad" cholesterol and lower the level of "good" cholesterol in your system.

Then there's shortening. Shortening definitely has its place in some cookie recipes. Why? It has a higher melting point than butter, and can create some awesome flaky textures. The problem is it completely lacks in flavor and, too, is made from partially hydrogenated oils. Some today are not, but the fact is that fat is fat, and unless the recipe specifically calls for shortening (as in snickerdoodles), choose butter. If you insist, though, there are additional adjustments to be made. You can't always substitute one for one. Oftentimes there's a formula to follow to make it successful.

You may have noticed that there are two different kinds of butter in the supermarket: salted and unsalted. As there is no set standard of added salt in the salted butters, it's always safest to go with the unsalted butters and add in the amount of salt you want. If you choose the salted butters and then add in the amount of salt required in a recipe, you'll have some really salty cookies-and that's not good.

And before I move on, no: you cannot substitute oil for butter, so don't even try. Unlike butter, margarine, or shortening, oil doesn't contribute to the leavening of a baked good, and will not trap air or water.

Why is that so important?

When you cream your sugars with your fats, you're creating air pockets. The sugar is forcing itself in to the butter. This aids in the leavening and helps to create a tender cookie.

As far as the sugars go, you're probably using either brown sugar or white, but more than likely both. The difference between the sugars is that brown sugar lends a richness and a moistness to your cookie, as well as a molasses flavor. It's often solely used in brownie recipes, for example. It is also what I use the most of in my chocolate cookies. There is a difference, however, between the generic brown sugars and the brand name in your supermarkets. Most of your generic brown sugars are simply made up of white sugar mixed with molasses. Real brown sugar is white sugar that hasn't been as refined, so it still retains the molasses itself--how much molasses is present will dictate whether the sugar is "dark" brown or "light" brown.

White sugar, on the other hand, lends a crispiness to your cookie and, besides its sweetness, not much else. While brown sugar will also lend color to your finished cookie, the use of only white sugar will result in a bland looking cookie.

Knowing this, however, means you can adjust the amounts as you like. Experiment a little!

Once you've decided, whip up the sugars with the fat until it is light in color and a bit fluffy. You'll know you're done creaming the fat with the sugars once you can't really taste the grains of the sugar in the mixture.

Add Eggs and Vanilla

Eggs at room temp? Good. Now crack them in a clean, separate bowl and then put them into the mixing bowl one at a time.

Why? It's the easiest way to ensure you don't have any shells in there. That wouldn't taste very good. You also do it one at a time to aid in the emulsifying process. All you have to worry about is making sure the one egg is incorporated before adding in the next. It doesn't take very much time.

Now, sometimes you'll have a cookie recipe that calls for only the yolk of the egg (or some yolks) or just the whites. Why would a recipe do this? The yolk is the richest, fattiest, most flavorful part of the egg. It doesn't, however, have much moisture to it, so it also contributes to the crispiness of a baked product. Egg whites, on the other hand, are the healthiest part of the egg, but they don't add much by way of fat and flavor. Yolks also add color to a product (like in yellow cakes).

The vanilla is merely a flavor enhancer, moreso with chocolate. The more chocolate that is in a cookie, the more vanilla you need to consider using. In a chocolate chocolate chip cookie, you could probably get away with as much as one tablespoon of vanilla.

And as far as "real" vanilla versus "imitation," I don't find it matters.

Add Flour Mixture

But don't do it all at once! This is especially important if you're using a stand mixer (you'll end up with a flour cloud). You want to allow the flour mixture to absorb the moisture in the batter, and tossing in all the flour at once won't allow this to happen. Instead, do it in thirds, and scrape down the bowl after each addition with a spatula.

Be careful to not overmix this. Once you put in the flour, you're creating gluten, and too much gluten toughens the mix and therefore, the cookie.

TASTE TEST!

That's right.

I know. There's always the chance of salmonella poisoning, but as long as you're not using eggs that were already cracked or three months old, you should be fine. Of course, if you have a compromised immune system, you'll want to be especially careful.

This isn't just a fun little step, though. It is a good idea to taste your dough. If the dough tastes weird, so will your cookies. When it comes to cookies such as snickerdoodles, though, you'll find the dough tastes weird anyway. You have to learn through trial and error with such cookies as to know how the dough should taste before baking.

Add Chocolate Chips

I touched on this a little earlier, but the kind of chocolate chip does affect the cookie. I find that most generic brands are, well, awful. Stick with Toll House™, Hersheys™, Ghirardelli™, Guittard™, and the like.

Bake!

You'll probably find your recipe has a time range for how long to cook the batch. This is because each oven is different. I suggest starting out with the lowest time suggested and moving on from there.

When checking for doneness, you don't want them to look done! The residual heat in the cookie sheet will continue to cook the cookies once you take them out of the oven (so if you accidentally overbake, place them onto a cooling rack ASAP). Look for brown edges around the cookie. If they still look doughy in the middle, though, then they do need about 2-3 minutes more time.

It is a little trickier with cookies such as snickerdoodles, though. If you wait too long, they'll be inedible. Wait for these kinds of cookies to crackle on the top. Be careful to know how long you had the first batch in so you can taste test it and adjust accordingly for the next batch.

It does take a bit of trial and error, but in the end, if you follow these steps you'll have some amazing cookies to share with your friends and family...or maybe just yourself.