The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

My children think that I make perfect chocolate chip cookies.  Do I?  Maybe, maybe not but they think that I do and that is all that I care about.  I will say, however, that many others will tell me the same and ask me how I do it?

They are appear nearly all perfectly round.  They appear to be perfectly browned, and they are light and fluffy, not flattened or crunchy.  The picture to the right is of some chocolate chip cookies that I just freshly baked yesterday. 

There is no big secret or special ingredient that makes the cookies seem so perfect, but, I do have a few things that I do consistently when baking, especially my seemingly perfect chocolate chip cookies. 

I believe elevation and humidity can play a large part in how any baking may turn out.  It can affect the temperature that you should use on your oven and it can affect how long you may need to bake your tasty treats.  However, for me, the brand of ingredients can make a huge difference.

I have found that all granulated sugars differ in the amount of moisture they contain as well as the size of the grain.  It can be real fine, or heavier.    These differences have been found to make a difference in how my baked goods turn out. 

Since I can’t control the humidity, I try to be consistent with the brand.  When I make these so-called perfect chocolate chip cookies, I use Domino sugar, and Robin Hood flour. 

So that they give the nearly perfectly round appearance, I roll the dough in 1” balls, rather than dropping by teaspoons on the ungreased cookie sheet.  When they bake out, they have no choice but to stay round.

Typically when you bake cookies, especially those calling for baking soda as one of the ingredients (much like the recipe I use does), the cookies will puff up through the baking process.  When they are in the last minutes of baking they will tend to flatten out.  Therefore, I remove them from the oven in advance of the “flattening” process, just before the cookies is completely baked. 

One last little tip that I have for making these seemingly perfect chocolate chip cookies, is that although the recipe calls for the use of butter, I opt to use shortening instead.  Additionally, I’m particular about the type of shortening.   Do I think there is a different in shortening?  Not really, my sister makes the best pies and she says there is no difference  I guess I’m just a particular in this department.   Butter will make the cookies tastes more rich, and creamy, but shortening will make them more light and fluffy. 

Below is the recipe that I use:

                ¾ Cups of Domino Granulated Sugar

                ¾ Cups of Domino Brown Sugar

                2 eggs

                1 teaspoon of baking soda

                1 teaspoon salt

                1 teaspoon vanilla

                Cream these items together and then add:

                2 ¼ Cups of Robin Hood Flour

                Mix well and then fold in semi-sweet chocolate chips by hand.

                Roll the dough in 1” balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet

                Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned, but not yet flattened.  Remove from the oven, and let the cookies sit on the tray for about 30 seconds before removing to a paper towel to cool.  Store in a seal-tight container, so that moisture stays with the cookie and doesn’t dry out.

Tip:  Do not leave on the cookies on the baking tray too long because the cookies will continue to bake on the heated cookie tray. 

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