What's the secret to a good chocolate chip cookie recipe?

[lisahaschickens]

Hi HennysMom-

I too use the Ghriardelli recipe... but then I realized that it is identical to the Tollhouse recipe, and so that is what I tell people to use because tollhouse is more commonly known... but they are both the same recipe and both delicious

 

[Orpington Poultry]

All I know is I am going to bake some tonight. After all this reading and great ideas, Have to have some. Lots of Chips too. Maybe some nuts.

 

[consdrs]

Flat "cowpie" cookies are caused by using a warm pan and butter that is overly melted. cream refrigerated butter, use a cool pan. if it just came out of the oven run the bottom under cold water to cool it. it will melt the butter in your cookie and it will go flat and make it crispy. the most important step in any cookie making is the creaming of the fat and sugar. It could take up to 5 min or more to properly cream the butter and sugar. keep your dough cool!! refrigerate for 30 min before baking. Use a scale to measure the ingredients! a large egg is 2 oz, measure. I love the toll house recipe, it is fool proof. If it does fail it is usually due to user error. follow it exactly! check the temp of your oven with a thermometer. mine is 25 deg off and i compensate accordingly. Use a good quality heavy aluminum pan. If you follow these steps it won't matter what the recipe you use you will get perfect cookies every time!


edited for spelling

 

[lisahaschickens]

consdrs - I agree with everything you are saying except the comment about the refrigerated butter. Cold butter cannot be properly creamed. By the time you get it properly incorporated into the sugars, it will be roomtemp anyway. Cool roomtemp is ideal. Cold, hard butter won't do anyone any favors. But, you are correct about not melting it and about keeping the dough cool/cold, which was already mentioned earlier in the thread.

 

[backpack09]

Toll House rocks... Were invented in my home town of Whitman.
if anyone cares: http://www.whitman-ma.gov/about-history.htm

 

[HennysMom]

Quote:
I just looked and mine is not the same recipe... and they dont taste the same. Toll house are more a cakey cookie and the ones on the back of the Ghiradelli bag are chewy.

Hmmm. maybe you have another type of recipe than I do?

 

[debilorrah]

I always use extra large eggs, and I use one more than the recipe calls for. I always have the butter at room temp too.

 

[lisahaschickens]

here are links to the recipes:

Tollhouse:
http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/detail.aspx?ID=18476

Ghirardelli:
http://www.ghirardelli.com/bake/recipe.aspx?id=1017

They are exactly the same except Tollhouse says 1 tsp salt, and Ghirardelli says 1/2 tsp salt.... which doesn't make much of a difference since salt content in butter (if you use salted, which I do) varies anyway... also different salts have different saltinesses (in that, say, Diamond Kosher salt weighs half as much as regular Morton Table Salt for the same volume).

Other than that, they are exactly identical... down to the baking temps, times, and instructions....

 

[lisahaschickens]

Backpack09 -

Yes, I think it's good for everyone to know the history of Mrs. Wakefield and her chocolate chip cookies, Tollhouse specifically. Thanks for sharing the great link! I've always liked the story.

 

[EweSheep]

My aunt swore the reason why our cookies were flat is because we use our KitchenAid mixer to beat our butter, shortening and eggs and sugar and mix slowly with floured ingredients. My aunt suggested to beat everything by hand and mix by hand, no machine mixing.

Does it really affect the outcome for puffy cookies?