Chocolate Chip Cookies (Oversized & Gooey)

These cookies are BIG, chewy and thick. The recipe calls for "melted" butter and an extra egg yolk to keep them soft.  I kind of, sort of, broke my diet all weekend so figured I would indulge myself today and start my diet again tomorrow. Plus I had 2 of the cookies, ok fine 3 of the cookies with a large glass of water to convince myself that I was being a bit healthy ... 

The recipe is pretty simple but you can't overmix and the dough balls need to be big, uneven and chunky. I baked two batches. The first was a total unpleasant mess. But the recipe was so simple I easily started all over.


(about 18 cookies)

2 cups all-purpose flour (sifted)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks about 170 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup packed (7 ounces about 200 grams) light or dark brown sugar (I prefer muscovado)
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces about 100grams) granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees (about 163 C). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined.

4. Add the dry ingredients and mix using a slotted spoon or a very low speed mixer. You want to AVOID OVERMIXING so be careful. Stir in the chips to taste.

5. Roll a scant 1/4 cup of the dough into a ball. Hold the dough ball with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough’s uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart. The reason behind this method of rolling is to avoid having small even surfaced cookies because those tend to flatten out which you do not want for this recipe. Do whatever works for you but the idea is to have a big chunky looking dough ball with jagged edges when you put it on the cookie sheet. 

6. Bake until the cookies are light golden grown and the outer edges start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a side metal spatula.

recipe from http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2008/06/21/thick-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/.