baking · sweet treats
chewy chocolate chip cookies
This one is not a family recipe. There is no gran behind it, no childhood memory attached, no moment I can point to and say that is where it started. It is just what happens when you make the same thing enough times, tweaking it a little more each time, until it stops being someone else’s recipe and starts being yours.
Someone asked me when I filmed these whether it was a family recipe and I had to laugh a little because no, it is just me refusing to leave well enough alone. Melted butter instead of softened because I read somewhere it makes them chewier and I have never gone back. Raw sugar instead of white because I like what it does to the flavour. More vanilla than any recipe would officially sanction, but that is just how I cook.
The tray bang is not optional. Two or three firm bangs on the counter straight out of the oven and you get those wrinkly, crinkled tops that make them look like they came from somewhere that charges too much for a single cookie. The centres will look underdone when you pull them out. Leave them. They firm up on the tray and they are better the next day once everything has had time to settle in, though I will be honest, they have never lasted that long in this house. And if you find yourself adding more vanilla than the recipe says, that is not a mistake. That is just good instincts. Or it is my influence. Either way, you are welcome.
ingredients
180g butter, melted and cooled
150g brown sugar
100g raw sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
280g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp fine salt
200g chocolate chips
method
1. Whisk the melted butter, brown sugar and raw sugar together until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla, whisk vigorously for 1 minute until slightly pale.
2. Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt. Fold gently until just combined, then fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes — this is what gives you thicker, chewier cookies.
4. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Line two baking trays with baking paper.
5. Scoop into heaped tablespoon-sized balls, space about 5cm apart. Do not flatten them.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are golden but the centres still look slightly underdone.
7. Bang the tray firmly on the counter 2-3 times straight out of the oven — this is what gives them those wrinkly tops.
8. Leave on the tray for 10 minutes to firm up.
the secret
The little things that make these mine: melted butter instead of softened, raw sugar instead of white, and more vanilla than any recipe would tell you to use. They are honestly even better the next day, once the flavour has had time to settle in.