A chocolate chip cookie is a cultural icon much like Wonder woman or the Beatles. It’s managed to find a way into almost every baking oriented cookbook, media and is so deliciously scrumptious that it’s uncommon for one to not take a dig at the unbaked cookie dough. I like my chocolate chip cookies with broken chocolate chunks rather than store brought chocolate chips. It offers up a more delightful experience as the chocolate chunks almost entirely melt in your mouth. The type of chocolate used makes a huge difference. I prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate as milk chocolate results in an overtly sweet cookie. As a personal choice I also leave my cookies in the oven longer than instructed just to get a bit more colour into them. I often told the chef baker to save up any of the brown or close to burnt cookies back in culinary school, where students often forgot the cookies in the oven. They were some of my favourite baked treats as slightly burnt cookies have a distinguished caramel flavour that is simply pleasant. Since I use chocolate chunks as opposed to chocolate chips, it is important not to over mix the dough as the chocolate can melt and blend into the dough, discolouring it. It’d be indiscernible to tell apart what’s cookie and what’s chocolate. In such a case, one ought to make a double chocolate chip cookie, but I desist unless I’m in the mood for a chocolate overload.
Chocolate chip cookie
Ingredients
175 gm Butter, unsalted
170 gm Demerara sugar
80 gm Caster sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
2 nos. Eggs
250 gm Flour
½ tsp. Soda Bicarb
½ tsp. Salt
200 gm Dark Chocolate, Chunks
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180 C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars slowly until light and creamy.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla extract until smooth.
- Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Fold into the butter mixture in three parts until well combined.
- Coat the dark chocolate chunks with flour and fold into the cookie dough lightly, careful not to over mix.
- Chill the cookie dough. When ready, scoop out small balls onto the baking sheet leaving ample space between each ball as the cookie will spread upon baking.
- Baking in the oven for 15 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool on the baking sheets.
And your yummy cookie is ready!
Recipe Credits - Manjushree Bhandari
