Barb's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think this recipe makes the best chocolate chip cookies ever!

The recipe, if you follow it exactly, makes these beautiful, huge, most delicious, meal-sized chocolate chip cookies.

I make them smaller and I like to add a cup of pecan halves. I was out of chocolate chips when I made this batch so I used Toll House Chocolate Chunks. If you make the small sized ones, bake the for 8 to 10 minutes before you swap them around in the oven, so bake for a total of 16 to 20 minutes.

This is Baking Diva Barb’s Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. She found it at http://www.americastestkitchen.com/http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipe/65.htmitchen.com/recipe/65.htm

The following recipe is exactly as developed by America's Test Kitchen. They say these over-sized cookies are chewy and thick, like many of the chocolate chip cookies sold in gourmet shops and cookie stores. They rely on melted butter and an extra yolk to keep their texture soft. These cookies are best served warm from the oven but will retain their texture even when cooled. To ensure the proper texture, cool the cookies on the cookie sheet. Over-sized cookie sheets allow you to get all the dough into the oven at one time. If you’re using smaller cookie sheets, put fewer cookies on each sheet and bake them in batches.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies Makes about 18 large cookies

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I recommend Watkin's Double Strength vanilla)

1 – 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl; set aside.

3. Either by hand or with electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in chips to taste.

4. Roll scant ¼ cup dough into ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth dough’s uneven surface. Place formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving 2 1/2 inches between each ball.

5. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking (from top to bottom and front to back), until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets. When cooled, peel cookies from parchment.

This is the size of dough balls that I make before they go into the oven. The yield making this size cookie is 48.

My taste tester has given them a 2-thumbs up. I only hope that there are some left over tomorrow. Sometimes taste-testing can get out of hand. I better go taste another right now to make sure they are still good . . . .

The picture below is a batch that Baking Diva Barb made. She added some colored sugar to dress them up for the Chritmas holidays. Her presentation is always so much better than mine.