Any cookie experts here?

I think I found the chocolate chip cookie recipe of all chocolate chip cookie recipes. It is a copycat of the Levain bakery cookie recipe.



Levain Bakery Walnut Chocolate Chip Copycat Cookie Recipe

2 sticks butter – cold and cut into cubes
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cups light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour (you may need slightly less or more)
3/4 tsp salt (I prefer sea salt)
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 cups chocolate chips – I used one cup regular semi-sweet chips and one cup mini chips
1 1/2 cups walnuts or pecans

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

2. In a large bowl/mixer bowl, cream together cubed butter and sugars until well blended and fluffy.

3. Add eggs, one at a time, until well mixed.

4. Add vanilla

5. Add flour, salt, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda & salt to butter, sugar and egg mixture until just combined. This should be a very thick mixture, and not sticky. If your dough is still sticky, try adding more flour, 1/8-1/4 cup at a time.

6. Add in chocolate chips and nuts.

7. Combine the dough and chocolate chips. My dough was so thick that I had to do this by hand, a bit like kneading bread.

8. Divide into portions to bake 12 large cookies and place on parchment papered cookie sheet.

9. Put into the oven to bake until cookies begin to brown. Start checking at about 15 minute mark.

10. Let cool and remove from pan.

"Read" the dough a wetter dough will spread thin as a too dry dough wont spread enough....If dough is too wet use a little flour to "dry" the dough The cookies I make from scratch use all purpose flour too. And I learned from the best cookie baker around my mother.

If your recipe calls for an ungreased cookie sheet, and you use a greased one, the extra 'lubrication' can cause the cookies to spread out. It has happened to me!

doxiemom11 wrote:
My mother always told me was that the baking powder or soda you are using is too old and has lost some of its oomph - not sure, but makes sense to me. You are supposed to replace that stuff every so often.

Baking powder has an expiration date on the bottom of the can. This I learned from my Home Ec teacher ages ago.

doxiemom11 wrote:
My mother always told me was that the baking powder or soda you are using is too old and has lost some of its oomph - not sure, but makes sense to me. You are supposed to replace that stuff every so often.

Very true with a lot of baked goods. However, make a batch of Nestle's chocolate chip cookies using their recipe with brand new soda or powder and you'll see the resulting cookies are paper thin. In fact, using the refrigerated cookie dough provides the same results so I'm not sure that chilling the dough in and of itself is a solution.

My mother always told me was that the baking powder or soda you are using is too old and has lost some of its oomph - not sure, but makes sense to me. You are supposed to replace that stuff every so often.

The secret is...BAR COOKIES! Always thick and soft and just the right size. No fuss, no muss. :B

Years ago.......Alton Brown did a show about chocolate Cookies..the episode was called...."Three Chips for Sister Marsha"........My wife made all three of these recipes to learn the differences.......and his subtle differences between them do make a difference.....

The Chewy

The Puffy

The Thin

The dough should be 'dry' enough that it barely holds together when it is rolled into a ball. Thin cookies are a result of too much moisture in the batter.

Howie