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Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is the mother of all chocolate chip cookies. Well, it’s the mother of most of my chocolate chip-ish kind of recipes.  Everyone needs a solid chocolate chip cookie recipe in their arsenal and this one is mine.  Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies are slightly crisp on the outside edges but soft and a bit chewy in the middle.

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They aren’t super chewy, I have another recipe for that, but they aren’t just soft.  You can break one in half without a mess of crumbs, but the cookie has enough texture to give you a hearty, satisfying bite. It came to me from an old roommate of mine, who had just relocated from San Francisco. She used to bake them up and bring them to work. 

This was back in the day when I was just starting in retail. I lived in a townhouse in central New Jersey where I had an ever revolving door of roommates. 

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In the beginning, there were multiple townhouses of retail roommates.  The rental complex was a good hub for commuting for those of us who worked in the stores and a 5 minute ride to the train station for those of us who commuted into New York to work in the buying offices.  I think I had over 16 different roommates during the years that I lived there.  It felt kind of like a dorm for department store junior executives.  We would often celebrate the holidays together since most of us had relocated from other states and we rarely got a day off between Thanksgiving and Christmas to travel to see our families. 

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We worked crazy hours, but we had a large group of friends and we had a lot of fun. These cookies became quite popular in our townhouse and at work, and my roommate became known for them.  I eventually accepted an offer for a  job outside of Philly and left the townhouse and my roommates.  However, I didn’t leave the cookies; the recipe came with me to that company and then the company after that. Before long, I too, became famous for the cookies. Everyone always wanted the recipe.  When my old roommate left her job to come work at my new company, I don’t think she was happy when she found out “her famous cookies” had inadvertently become “my famous cookies.” Fast forward to me getting married and having kids.  I was working my same crazy retail hours while my husband had an office in our home.  Because of my hours, he picked up most of the cooking.  He also loved these cookies and liked having a stash in the freezer, so he started to make them himself, if I didn’t have the time.  I’m sure you know what happened next. 

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Other mothers and teachers would talk about how Ramona’s husband made the best chocolate chip cookies. Yep, they became “his famous cookies.”  ( Let’s just say I never saw that coming.) Since then, I’ve researched tons of chocolate chip cookie recipes.  With the internet, it’s quite easy to compare them to each other and they all seem to come from four or five very popular sources.  Everyone has their tweaks and secret ingredients, but I can read almost any and see where their roots came from.  So, when I say this is the mother of my chocolate chip recipes, I mean it is the one I tweak and test against, changing types of flour, butter and sugar ratios, or switching up leavening agents or flavors. Sometimes I add my own secret ingredient. 

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 I’ll be sharing those other recipes with you over time, but this is where they started. I’m posting this recipe today in its original form. I baked it that way, except for the toasted pecans, which are optional, unless you’re me, then they’re mandatory.  I happen to think this recipe is 100 times better with the toasted pecans in it; then, it’s almost my favorite cookie of all.  But, there are others in my life who do not bow to the toasted pecan chocolate chip cookie, and for today, for them, I have optioned out the nuts (#cookie sacrifices.)  If you love nuts in your cookies, you must try these with the toasted pecans. I’m sure you have a favorite recipe…Is it the one that adds the extra egg yolk?  

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Or, is it the famous one from New York? Is cornstarch one of your secret ingredients?  I’ve tried those and many others, and I won’t tell you that I didn’t like them, because they were all great cookie recipes.  But we still keep coming back to this one as our favorite.  We like the flavor and the texture….not too soft, not too crispy…just nice, thick, sink your teeth into it delicious.  Sometimes I see this recipe out there, but not quite as often as others.

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It comes from Michael Bauer, the executive food and wine editor and restaurant critic for The San Francisco Chronicle.  I have no idea when it was published, as my recipe is on a piece of notebook paper handwritten by my former roommate.  It probably appeared in The Chronicle a million years ago, much like my Peanut butter Cut Out Cookies did in The Plain Dealer.  Sometimes you have to dig deep to find buried treasure. If you haven’t found your chocolate chip cookie nirvana, this recipe is certainly worth a try. Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. Maybe they’ll  become “your famous cookies.”

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: 20 large cookies (1/4 cup scoop)

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 extra large eggs
  • 24 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 cups chopped toasted pecans, optional

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  4. Add vanilla, then add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating one before adding the other.
  5. Gradually add flour mixture, using lowest speed on mixer or stirring in by hand.
  6. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
  7. Scoop 1/4 cup mounds onto ungreased cookie sheet. I use an ice cream scoop for this.
  8. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown on edges and you see bits of golden brown on the higher peaks of your cookie on top.
  9. Cool completely on pans.

Notes

* Baking at 325 degrees is important for large cookies since it allows the cookie to bake thoroughly in the middle before the outside gets overcooked. If you want to bake smaller cookies, use about 2 Tablespoons of dough and bake at 350 for about 10-11 minutes or until lightly golden.

*This recipe uses a lot of chips/nuts. You can always cut back to your preference if you like to use less.

Recipe Source: Michael Bauer's Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, The San Francisco Chronicle

The Merchant Baker Copyright © 2014

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Cyndi B

Tuesday 10th of March 2015

A-Maze-Ing!!I usually make ATK recipe for cookies(extra egg yolk, melted butter),but today I had to make some cookies for a friend's birthday,so I used your recipe. These were really good. I still really like my other recipe,but this one is so loaded with chocolate and nuts that I think I will be keeping it as a great alternate recipe. I seriously bake about every two days. Cookies make people happy, and I love to give them as gifts in decorative boxes.

Ramona

Tuesday 10th of March 2015

This is the original recipe and I've been tweaking it. I wanted to make sure Michael Bauer's unchanged recipe got posted for reference since my husband really loves it just as is. You might like the peanut butter chip version with the cornstarch, if you like a softer cookie. I have another really yummy one coming up next week, I think. (I love the ATK one also!)

Jennifer C

Thursday 26th of February 2015

Oh to finally bake these gems in my kitchen.....truly a thrill!!!!!!!!!! Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Cheryl

Wednesday 17th of December 2014

These are the BEST chocolate chip cookies I've ever had....EVER!!!! I remember the first time I tasted Ramona's chocolate chip cookies I couldn't believe how delicious they were. I happen to be lucky enough to know Ramona personally and when she bakes my taste buds do back flips she puts love into all her food and although I've had lots of her baked goods these are hands down my all time favorite with her brownies cruising close in 2nd place.

Ramona

Thursday 18th of December 2014

I pay for these compliments in cookies :)

Jessica

Wednesday 3rd of December 2014

Made these today, yum! They are everything I like in a chocolate chip cookie.

Ramona

Wednesday 3rd of December 2014

Yay! So glad you enjoyed them!

Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust

Monday 1st of December 2014

I've never had a roommate, besides my husband. Too bad - who knew the best cookies came from roomies??? These are gorgeous!

Ramona

Monday 1st of December 2014

Dorothy, I think you should tell your husband that it's high time he fulfilled his "roommate duties" and made you some cookies! ;)

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