Ingredients
Makes about 20-28 cookies (depending on size)
280g / 2 and 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp of baking soda
1 and 1/2 tsp of cornstarch
1/2 tsp of salt
170g / 12 tbsp of unsalted melted butter
100 g / 1/2 cup of white sugar
75g / a little less than 3/4c light brown sugar (not packed)
75g / a little less than 3/4c dark brown sugar (not packed)
1 lg egg + 1 egg yolk at room temperature
2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
240g / 1.5 cups of dark chocolate (I use 70%) chopped up to mimic chocolate chips
Maldon salt for on top
Preparation
1- Begin by chopping up your chocolate into sizes that you like (big, medium or smaller chunks.) Make sure to keep and use all the chocolate “crumbs.” Set aside.
2- In a medium bowl, lightly whisk together your flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt together. Set aside.
3- Melt your butter in a small saucepan on medium heat. Gather your sugars into a heat proof bowl and once the butter is melted, pour it into your sugar bowl and whisk. Make sure there are no remaining sugar lumps. Add in your egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Whisk to combine.
4- Add your flour mixture to your wet mixture and with a wooden spoon or spatula, mix until almost combined (there can be flour not yet mixed in.) Add in your chocolate chips and mix. Transfer all the dough into a tupperware with a lid and pop it into the fridge overnight or for 24hrs.
5- After your dough’s resting time, pull it out of the fridge and allow it to sit at room temp for 10-15 mins. Turn on your oven to 160c / 325f.
6- Proceed to make cookie dough “towers” (see photo below for visual) and add your maldon salt on top of each tower. Make sure to stick the salt into the dough or it will fall off. Space them out on your cookie sheet to allow spreading. I usually bake no more than 8 at a time.
7- Bake for 12 minutes or until slightly browned on the edges. If you can, it’s best to test bake your cookies to find your oven’s happy place and your preferred back time. I love my cookies, slightly undercooked but crispy. My oven gives me the perfect cookie at 12 minutes.
8- If you are freezing your cookie dough towers for a later bake. Place them on a pan or plate that can fit in your freezer. You don’t want to towers to touch. Allow them to freeze (about an hour) and then put them in a freezer bag. When are you ready to bake cookies “a la minute,” set your oven to 140c and bake for 16 minutes (again, you can adjust for your oven!)
Step 1
Gather all ingredients. Flour, baking soda, cornstarch, salt, white sugar, light brown sugar, dark brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract, eggs, dark chocolate, maldon salt.
I like to start out by cutting up my chocolate. I prefer cut up chocolate as opposed to chocolate chips because I enjoy the uneven bits as well as the chocolate "crumbs" influencing the dough.
Gently whisk your flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt together, set aside.
Next melt your butter on medium heat. I take it off the heat when the butter is almost melted and let it finish melting as I measure out the sugars.
After measuring out your sugars, pour in your butter and whisk. Make sure all brown sugar lumps are gone.
Whisk in your egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract.
Add in your flour mixture and switch to a wooden spoon or a spatula to mix to avoid dough clumping inside of your whisk.
When you're at this point and can still see some unmixed flour, add in your chocolate chunks.
If you like to "taste" the dough this is the time to dive in. Right after it comes together. This is hands down my favorite part!
Once you've finished "tasting," transfer your dough into a tupperware with a lid. Close it up and pop it in the fridge overnight or for 24 hrs. This will not only develop the flavor but helps with the baking.
Using a spoon, scoop out some dough and with your hands form dough towers. This will help keep them thicker while the bake.
I roll my dough to make 4-5cm tall towers.
Add your maldon salt on top. You'll likely need to press each grain of salt into the dough so that they don't fall off.
To find your perfect bake time, do a test bake first. After baking, allow them to cool 10 minutes on the pan before eating them. Adjust your time and make a note of it for next time.
Once you have found your ideal bake time, start baking away. Make sure to allow space in between each cookie for some spreading during baking. I usually have 8 cookies on my cookie sheet.
I like my cookies just a little underbaked as they will continue baking while they are cooling on the pan. One of the several reasons to test your oven & bake time. Enjoy!
If you want to freeze some dough, after they sit in the fridge. Put your towers on a plate or pan, without them touching and pop them in the freezer for an hour.
My freezer is really small so I can only use small plates to freeze my dough.
Once frozen, transfer them into a freezer bag. When you are ready to bake, lower your original oven time by 20 degrees. In this case lower it to 140c. Bake for about 16 minutes straight out of the freezer for a crispy yet gooey cookie!
A perfect chocolate chip cookie
I remember the dough more than the cookies. The way the chocolate chips looked at you with that greasy face from being drunk with butter. Eat me. Eat me.
We each got a spoonful of dough, my sister and I. Our mom gave generous spoonfuls because she, too, loved that dough.
This was the 90’s. Parents weren’t too concerned about over-sugaring their kid, raw eggs or cavities. We had another ten years before those conversations started. About twenty years before we started listening to those conversations.
As soon as the cookies came out of the oven, you forgot about the dough. Burning your tongue on the hot cookie was part of the experience. The gooeyness was gold. We were a family of four but rarely were any cookies left for the next day. All these memories I owe to Tollhouse. My first chocolate chip cookie.
There came a point when the Tollhouse recipe slowly slipped into the shadows as hundreds of bakers across the lands worked to improve the chocolate chip cookie. They browned the butter to introduce a nutty, caramel flavor. The sugars darkened and so did the chocolate. The dough was encouraged to rest overnight to develop its flavor and perhaps ponder its short existence. Crispy edges started to hug the perfectly moist interior of the cookie as a result of a perfectly calculated bake. As if all this wasn’t enough, salty flakes were added to quite literally “top” it. Et voila! Your perfect chocolate chip cookie.
Of all the enlightened chocolate chip cookie recipest I’ve made over the years, this one stole my heart. There is nothing fancy about it but it takes me back to those moments when I was a little girl licking the bowl of the Tollhouse cookie dough. It’s so, so, so good. And the baked cookies are insane. It tastes like the butter is browned but it ain’t. If you grew up eating Tollhouse, this is the sophisticated version while staying humble and simple. Check out Sally’s Baking Addiction for so many more baking delights.
