Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies Can be Tricky

It seems strange that I’ve managed to write seven books without one plain chocolate chip cookie (by which I mean a plain cookie with chocolate chips in it). It’s true that the Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie made an appearance once, and it’s only buoyed up by its success that I’ve felt confident enough to create this one.

For here’s the thing: you’d think a plain cookie with a few chocolate chips folded into the mixture would be a simple matter. It’s not. It’s never difficult to make, just difficult to get right. I may be picky, but to my mind, or my mouth, a cookie that’s too crisp feels dry and disappointing and a cookie that’s too chewy tastes like dough. I want a bit of tender, fudgy chewiness but an edge of crisp bite, too.

INGREDIENTS

Makes: approx. 14 Cooklies

• 1¼ sticks soft unsalted butter
• ⅔ cup soft light brown sugar
• ½ cup superfine sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 egg (fridge-cold)
• 1 egg yolk (fridge-cold)
• 2 cups flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 11½ ounces packet milk chocolate morsels or chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
2. Melt the butter and let it cool a bit. Put the brown and white sugars into a bowl, pour the slightly cooled, melted butter over them and beat together.
3. Beat in the vanilla, the cold egg and cold egg yolk until your mixture is light and creamy.
4. Slowly mix in the flour and bicarb until just blended, then fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Scoop the cookie dough into an American quarter-cup measure or a quarter cup round ice cream scoop and drop onto the prepared baking sheet, plopping the cookies down about 8cm/3 inches apart. You will need to make these in 2 batches, keeping the bowl of cookie dough in the fridge between batches.
6. Bake for 15–17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks.