MAMA'S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

SEMI-SWEET, CRISPY WITH A CHEWY CENTER

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These are Mama's very addictive crispy, soft, cookies. She makes them for special occassions and often distributes them out to friends and family in festive and colorful tins. As a person that doesn't like sweets too much, I've appreciated that these cookies have always hit a nice balance of sweet and salty, with 'just-right' amount of chocolate chips that allows you to enjoy all aspects of the cookie without being overwhelmed. There's some key steps needed to achieve the right texture, but these can be quite easy to whip-up once you get the rhythm down.

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YIELD:        36 cookies (2.5" to 3")

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INGREDIENTS:

2 cups	All-purpose Flour (King Arthur if possible)
1/2 tsp	Baking soda
1/2 tsp	Salt
3/4 cup	Unsalted butter, softened
1 cup	Brown Sugar, packed
1/2 cup	Granulated sugar
1 Tbsp	Vanilla Extract
1	Large Egg
1	Large Egg Yolk
1-1/2 cup	Semisweet Chocolate Chips (Ghirardelli if possible)

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TIME-SAVING TIP:

To save time, you can drop cookie-sized portions of the remaining dough into a large bowl and chill the whole batch in the fridge together. They will stick together, but should be relatively easy to pull apart when you’re ready to bake. Be sure not to roll or compress the individual cookies! They need that air inside the dough to bake properly.

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COOLING THE COOKIES:

Given the need to bake multiple batches of cookies continuously, and the need to fully cool the cookies before stacking them - This preserves the crispy exterior and keeps the inside from collapsing - the ideal cooling rack will allow you to set aside many batches as you work. The bottom of a cooling rack needs to allow even airflow to get to the underside of the cookies as well as the top. The bottom of the cookies will become soggy if simply left on a pan to cool.

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INSTRUCTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 325°F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper
• Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium mixing bowl; set aside.
• In a separate large bowl, cream together the softened butter (leave out on the counter the night before for best results), brown sugar and white sugar until smooth and well blended.
• Beat the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk into the butter/sugar mixture until light and creamy.
• Mix in the sifted dry ingredients until just blended. Do not over mix! Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a spoon or spatula.
• Drop dough roughly 1 tablespoon at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
• Put entire cookie sheet into the fridge for 30 minutes, or into the freezer for 8 minutes. This is the most important step for crispy edges and chewy centers!
• Bake for 10-12 minutes, checking continuously the first round as baking time may vary. The edges should be lightly toasted, but the tops may look slightly underdone.
• Cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

THE ANATOMY OF AN IDEAL COOKIE: