Chocolate chip cookies

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Put 170 g unsalted butter in a small saucepan, melt it completely over low heat, then turn off the heat and let it cool for about ten minutes. Melted butter makes cookies chewier and denser than creamed butter does. The butter is ready when the side of the pan feels only slightly warm.

   Low heat.

   Mark step 1 as done

2. Step 2

   Pour the cooled butter into a large bowl, add 165 g brown sugar and 100 g granulated sugar and whisk vigorously for about a minute. White sugar makes the edges crisp, while brown sugar keeps the centers moist and chewy. The mixture is ready when it looks like wet sand with no pools of separated butter.

   Mark step 2 as done

3. Step 3

   Add 50 g eggs, 18 g egg yolks and 8 g vanilla extract and whisk continuously for about a minute. The extra yolk adds fat and makes the centers softer and chewier. Stop when the mixture has thickened, looks glossy and smooth and is a light brown like caramel sauce.

   Mark step 3 as done

4. Step 4

   Mix 280 g all-purpose flour with 5 g baking soda and 4 g salt, add it to the bowl and stir with a spatula until almost no dry flour remains, then add 300 g chocolate chips and finish mixing. Adding the chocolate before the flour is fully mixed in saves you from extra stirring. The dough is ready when it's soft and pliable, with no white streaks and chocolate spread throughout.

   Mark step 4 as done

5. Step 5

   Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least an hour, or overnight if you have time. Resting lets the flour absorb moisture and the sugar dissolve, so the cookies spread less and taste more of toasty butter. The dough is ready when it has firmed up and can be scooped into balls without sticking to your hands.

   Suggested time: about 60 minutes.

   Mark step 5 as done

6. Step 6

   Preheat the oven to 175°C, then divide the dough into balls the size of a ping-pong ball and place them on parchment-lined baking sheets about 6 cm apart. The cookies spread as they bake, so this spacing keeps them from running together. The trays are ready when the balls are all the same size, about eight to ten per tray.

   Mark step 6 as done

7. Step 7

   Bake one tray at a time on the middle rack at 175°C for about 10 to 12 minutes. Taking the cookies out while the centers are still slightly underdone keeps them chewy once cool. They're ready when the edges are golden brown, the tops are lightly cracked and the centers still look a little shiny and soft.

   Bake at 175°C for about 10 to 12 minutes.

   Mark step 7 as done

8. Step 8

   Let the cookies rest on the hot tray for about five minutes before moving them to a rack, and press a few extra chocolate chips on top while they're still warm if you like. The leftover heat in the tray finishes cooking the centers without drying the cookies out. They're ready when you can lift them without them breaking and the edges have crisped up.

   Suggested time: about 5 minutes.

   Mark step 8 as done