I did it. I finally mastered the chocolate chip cookie.
How? you ask. What's the secret? you say. Well, I'll tell you:
Refrigeration
Let me explain. The chocolate chip cookie has always been my arch nemesis of the dessert world. I'm a pretty darn good baker but when it came to the chocolate chip cookie, I could never seem to get it just right.
Growing up, we always had cookies of some kind in the house ... snicker doodles to gumdrop cookies and everything in between. I grew up helping my mom bake them and eventually it become my Saturday chore to make cookies. I learned to love making cookies, but I still struggled with my arch nemesis.
I remember one day my mom came home with a new recipe to try. She insisted that this was the recipe to solve the madness. So I gave it a shot. And guess what? They turned out perfect ... great tasting, nice and round, soft. We thought that was it, that life would be blissful with a perfect chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk. And for awhile it was, till I tried the recipe again ...
Failure. Pure and utter failure. To my amazement, the recipe never worked for me again.
When I got to college I discovered the best tasting chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's on the back of the Western Family brand of chips. I said to myself, "Self, why not try this recipe out?" They are delicious! But, they always turn out flat. I think after years and years of fighting with the chocolate chip cookie, I finally settled for a delicious tasting cookie regardless of how it comes out of the oven.
A few weeks ago I was craving cookie dough. So instead of making some, I picked up some pre-made Western Family chocolate chip cookie dough at the store. It was delicious, of course, but deciding against making myself sick on raw dough, I baked some cookies as well. I assumed the dough was made from the same recipe Western Family promotes on the back of the chip bags. But when I took the cookies out of the oven, they were perfect. Golden brown, round, soft for days, and delicious.
So I started to wonder what the difference was between my pathetic cookies and these brilliant ones. The big obvious answer was that this store bought dough was hard from being in the fridge. When I rolled the dough into balls, they stayed tight. And the dough was cold so when placed in the oven, it took longer for the dough to fan out. I concluded that the next time I made chocolate chip cookie dough, I would put the dough in the refrigerator and see if this would put a stop to my rivalry.
My husband loves chocolate chip cookies so it wasn't long until I made some dough again. But this time, the dough went in the fridge over night. The next day I baked two dozen and to my wonderful pleasure ... they came out golden brown, round, and soft for days! And of course, absolutely delicious, especially warm right out of the oven. The perfect chocolate chip cookie!
The battle is over; the war is won. I have mastered the chocolate chip cookie. Who know all it took was a little chill.
