THIN, Chewy, Crispy, Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've seen baking bloggers get dissed/blasted for having too many chocolate chip cookie recipes (no joke, I couldn't believe someone would be so spiteful), and some bloggers themselves post new chocolate chip cookie recipes with a sheepish and remorseful tone, as if to say "Sorry to subject you readers to more chocolate chip cookies, but I can't help myself!"

But I'm here to say that there are good reasons for trying different chocolate chip recipes: 1) the same recipe can turn out slightly different from person to person due to differences in climate, equipment, source of ingredients, etc., and 2) even the slightest variations in the ratios of ingredients amongst different recipes can make for a very different end product.

Case in point: these chocolate chip cookies. Just a tiny bit more butter and sugar to flour than most recipes. One less yolk. Brown sugar only; no white sugar. These small changes made for a cookie that spread like no other basic chocolate chip cookie I've tried in recent times.

And they were very delicious in their own right. They puffed up during baking but then collapsed back down into a caramelly, thin, chewy cookie that if baked a little longer, can also be made crispy as well. The first batch I didn't bake long enough, and they a little too soft in the middles, but the later batches I baked just right so that the edges were crispy and the middle nice and chewy.

There were a couple other variables that may have affected how my cookies came out. I randomly decided to weigh my flour this time, and I used the conversion of 1 cup = 4.25 oz to decide the weight of flour, which may have ended up resulting in me putting less flour than if I just measured by volume alone. I think if one was to add a little more flour (maybe 1/4 of a cup) or make sure to use light brown sugar rather than dark brown sugar like I did instead, these cookies may come out a little thicker.

I baked a batch of my old standby favorite, the Cooks' Illustrated Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies, as a back-up after I freaked out about how thin these came out, but interestingly and ironically, a good number of the people at the party who tried both cookies actually preferred these thin ones over the more conventional thicker chewy cookies. Go figure. Shows that yummy chocolate chip cookies come in all different shapes and sizes.

Which justifies the >10 other chocolate chip cookie recipes still left on my to-do list...




Thin, Crispy, and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Pittsburgh Needs Eated and The Sweet Life by Kate Zuckerman)

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 & 1/2 cups light brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar, maybe too much moisture)
1 egg, room temperature
1 egg white, room temperature
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 & 1/2 cups (6 oz.) chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line some cookie sheets with parchment or Silpat. In a bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Put the butter in a bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on medium speed until mixture is light and fluffy, about 6-8 minutes, pausing to scrape down sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the egg and egg white and mix until fully incorporated.

Add the dry ingredients all at once to the wet ingredients and fold together briefly by hand with a rubber spatula. Place back on mixer and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Add the chocolate, vanilla, and walnuts (if using). Scrape down side of bowl and mix for another 30 seconds. You can refrigerate the dough for up to 4 days before use, or use immediately.

Drop cookie dough onto prepared pans using your preferred method (cookie scoop, spoons, etc), and make sure the cookies are at least 2 inches apart. These guys are spreaders! Bake until golden brown on top and not raw-looking (middle should be brown, not dough-colored) with darker brown edges, about 12-15 minutes. You can bake a tiny bit longer for a crunchier cookie. To ensure even browning, it is a good idea to rotate the cookie sheets sometime during the baking time. Cool on baking sheet for at least 5-10 minutes to allow cookie to set, then use a flat spatula to remove to cooling rack.

Keep in airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze for long term storage.