Chocolate Chip Cookies

Home-made chocolate chip cookies. In my opinion, the best five words to ever be strung together. I knew for my baking project that I had to make my favorite cookies one time, and this is that time. These classic cookies were not that difficult to make, and they had a short list of ingredients. Ingredients include:

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks 
• Fleur de sel for sprinkling (optional)
  

First, you must place a rack on the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Also, line 2 (or in my case 3) cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Next sift together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt; set aside (Day). I had never heard what sifting together meant, so I just mixed it with a fork, worked just as well.

Next in a bowl, either a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or just a large bowl and hand mixer, cream the butter, vanilla, and both sugars together until light and fluffy, for 3-5 minutes. Next Day says, "Add the eggs and mix for no more than 1 minute; the eggs will not be fully incorporated" (Day). It was really weird for me to hear not the fully incorporate the eggs in, and it looked really weird, but I went with it, since Day is a professional and I am not. 

Next turn the speed down (or off if you are using a hand held mixer, from experience) and add the dry ingredients in thirds until just incorporated. Next add the chocolate chunks beating until combined. I added a little more than 2 cups, because I really like my cookies with a lot of chocolate chips. This mixture itself was incredibly hard to mix together, since there are virtually no wet ingredients in it. I had to ask my Dad for help in the mixing process, and our hand mixer was hot to the touch when we finished. Even though this process was a but difficult, it was worth it in the end. 

Lastly using a ice cream scoop or a 1/4 measuring cup, form the cookies and place them on the baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. These cookies were HUGE in the end, I would recommend making them a bit smaller, and just making more. I followed these instructions and most of my cookies stuck together. Not that it's a huge problem, but if you don't want that to happen to you, I would recommend smaller cookies, more spaced out. 

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for about 15 to 18 minutes, and you will know they are done when they are golden brown around the edges and light in the middle. I left them in a bit longer, because I like my cookies crunchy. Let them cool and place them in an airtight container, makes about 24 cookies more or less. Hope you Enjoy!

At the bottom of the page it is highly recommended to eat these with milk, and if you can, drink the milk from the glass container. The tip is to pour your milk into a glass container and chill, because that is the best way to enjoy it (Day). 

What is your favorite type of cookie? Do you enjoy your cookies with milk, or water, or no beverage at all?

Day, Cheryl, and Griffith Day. The Back in the Day Cookbook. New York: Artisan, 

     2012. Print.