The “Perfect” Chocolate Chip Cookie

If there’s anything I have learned about this whole quarantine experience, it’s that people -me included!- are craving a lot of bagels and a LOT of sweets. (And definitely drinking lot of wine, but I don’t make wine… yet!) The response to my homemade bagels (thank you Sophisticated Gourmet) and then this batch of Levain Bakery-inspired cookies, has been off the charts. The best part about cooking, especially now, is sharing it with all of you and I love seeing which recipes resonate and inspire you all to cook along with me. It’s not the same as being together, I know, but if this is the best we can do right now, I’ll take it!

So definitely keep the feedback coming. Comment below to tell me what you’d like me to make for you next and don’t forget to sign-up for my newsletter; see the registration button on the side panel of this page. You’ll get ALL of my recipes weekly at the top of your inbox.

And, of course, comment below and let us know what you think of this recipe too. One disclaimer, since “perfect” carries a lot of pressure with it, I’m just going to start by saying these cookies are my definition of “practically perfect” (in every way). I think you’re on to something, Mary Poppins. So check out the recipe below – I hope you enjoy every last bite!

xo, Amanda

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

April 29, 2020

Servings: 8-10 cookies

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 10 min

Total: 30 min

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My all-time favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, inspired by none other than Levain Bakery so you know it's THAT good! See all of the extra *scientific* notes below, following the recipe.

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• 10 TBSP unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (dark brown sugar is preferred, but you can use light too)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 TBSP Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup + 1 TBSP cake flour* If you don't have cake flour, don't worry- use all purpose! See my note re. flour below
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 12 oz bag semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (OR 2 cups chopped)
• Optional flaky sea salt, for topping

Directions

• Step 1 Preheat your oven to 400 degrees (convection bake preferably, if you have that setting). Cut the softened butter into tablespoon size pieces. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl.
• Step 2 Turn your mixer to medium and start beating the butter. Add both the white and brown sugars and beat for about 1 minute, until the butter starts to blend with the sugar.
• Step 3 Add your egg and vanilla extract and beat until mixed well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then add your unsweetened cocoa powder and continue mixing until cocoa is blended well.
• Step 4 Add both flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt to bowl all at once. Mix on a low speed, until the wet and dry ingredients are fully combined. Scrape down sides of bowl again.
• Step 5 Now, fold in chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate) by hand until they are fully incorporated into the dough.
• Step 6 Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out large cookie balls (each cookie will be ~3 TBSP in size, the bigger the better!) onto your baking sheet. Make sure to spread out at least 3 inches apart – they will spread as they bake. I fit 4 cookies on each sheet.
• Step 7 Bake for ~8 minutes, ideally on convention bake if possible. The cookies are done when a top crust is formed and the cookies no longer look wet. Keep a close eye on them – you do not want to over bake! Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if desired and allow to rest about 30 minutes before devouring!

I’ve long been coveting the perfect, crave-worthy cookie recipe and I’ve tried more recipes over the years than I can count. The closest I’ve gotten to the perfect cookie outside the home is my local bakery, Beascakes Bakery (I am still dying to know her secret!) and of course, the epic Levain Bakery cookies! I know that it’s so subjective, but to me, the ideal “perfect” cookie = a cookie that’s rich, buttery, soft on the inside with just a slight golden crisp on the outside. If you love slightly underdone cookies, this is the recipe for you. Baking it on 375 degrees, you’ll get those crisp edges outside while maintaining a doughy, fudgy inside. I also love a LOT of chocolate too (go big or go home!) so that definitely guided me toward this recipe too.

I know this is a quarantine and you may not have every ingredient on hand, but there was definitely a method to my madness here – so let me explain. I don’t think I’ve ever shared this before, but I was *almost* a chemistry major in college (somehow landed on psychology in the end but that’s another story lol) but the chemistry in baking still fascinates me. Baking in some sense is like one giant science experiment – with the hands-down BEST reward. So as you’d expect, I have done a lot of research and I’m not coming totally out of left field. There’s really no “secret” ingredient when it comes to baking these beauties, but there some important hints, namely:

• Butter – Unsalted vs. Salted:There’s a lot of controversy about salted vs. unsalted; by all means use what you have but I’m team UNsalted. When you use unsalted butter in a recipe, you can control the exact amount of salt in your cookie. When you use salted butter, you have no idea how much salt you’re really using because it varies so much among brands. Salted butter has a noticeably saltier taste, which in my opinion can really effect the taste.
• Butter – Melted vs. Softened: There’s also two camps on melting your butter vs. using softened. After years of testing, I strongly believe that starting with softened butter is the way to go. Softened in this case means you can push your finger gently into the butter to make an indentation but it’s not so soft and squishy that it falls apart in your hands. Either leave it out for half an hour ahead of baking, or if you have a soften setting on your microwave, speed soften it for 10 seconds TOTAL in your microwave.
• Brown Sugar AND Granulated Sugar– Why two sugars? White sugar will help your cookies spread large and wide across the pan and brown sugar is both for flavor and moistness. Scientifically – brown sugar is more capable of retaining moisture, so it keeps the cookies extra moist! If you enjoy a richer, more caramel-infused flavor, use dark brown sugar (vs. light brown sugar).
• Cake Flour: Flour can make or break your cookie recipe, so why did I use a mix of all-purpose and cake flour? Cake flour lends itself to softer, more delicate “pillowy” cookies because it has less protein than all-purpose flour. But if you you use only cake flour the cookie will be a lot more crumbly, so I recommend a mix. But you can obviously use ALL all-purpose flour and you probably won’t know the difference.
• Salt: Do not skip this step! There’s actually a scientific explanation as to why the flavor amalgamation of salted chocolate is so great, salt intensifies the ability to taste all the sweet. (Thanks Huffpost for confirming this!) If you’re like me, sprinkle with a little fine sea salt in the last step so you can offset all that sweet!
• Oven Temp: For an ooey, gooey chocolate chip cookie, 375 degrees is generally the sweet spot. It’s the perfect temperature to ensure super crispy exterior edges, while leaving the center slightly underdone and, thus, doughy and fudgey. If you’re feeling particularly bold, like I was – give 400 degrees Fahrenheit a go. I also use convection bake to ensure they cook more evenly. With convection, the air circulates allowing more even distribution of the heat.
• Chocolate Chips: Semi-sweet chocolate is the way I’d lean (there is such a thing as “too” sweet so you do not want milk chocolate here) and I’d also recommend using chopped chocolate (although it’s a bit labor intensive). Chocolate chunks lend themselves more towards super-duper gooey cookies, dense and fudge-like on the inside. Just the way I like ’em!