Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brandon's preference is to have coconut bittersweet chocolate cookies. For that, I put in a 4 oz bar of Ghirdelli bittersweet chocolate cut into chunks and 1c. coconut instead of the 1-2 cups chips.   Also, any kind of chip works well. I really prefer white chocolate chips. You can also add nuts if you want, they are tasty with some macadamia nuts.  This batch was made with a 4 oz bar of Ghirdelli semi-sweet chocolate 

This recipe is also really easy and seem to turn out better if you just mix them up by hand instead of using the mixer. They freeze really well and when we want one, we pull one out of the freezer and microwave it on 50% power for like 30 seconds and they are as good as coming out of the oven. YUM!

Ingredients

2 1/8 c. all-purpose flour (~ 10 1/2 ounces)
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
12 T. butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled slightly
1 c. brown sugar  (7 ounces)
1/2 c. sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 t. vanilla extract
1 - 2 c. chocolate chips or chunks (semi or bittersweet)


Directions

1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions.  Heat oven to 325 degrees. 
2. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
   By hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended.
3. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla.
4. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined.
5. Stir in chips.
   Using 3 T. cookie scoop, scoop dough into ball. Holding dough ball using fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves ninety degrees and, with jagged surfaces exposed, join halves together at their base, again forming a single cookie, being careful not to smooth dough’s uneven surface.
6. Place formed dough onto one of two parchment paper-lined (or use silicone baking mat) jellyroll pans, about nine dough balls per sheet. (Dough can be refrigerated up to 2 days or frozen up to 1 month—shaped or not.)
    Bake, rotating cookie sheets’ positions halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes(start checking at 13 minutes). (Frozen dough requires an extra 1 to 2 minutes baking time.)
7. Cool cookies on cookie sheets.
8. Serve or store in airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.