Hello everyone! This is a recipe for soft, chewy, rich and large chocolate chip cookies that are perfect for almost any occasion.

Also, welcome to my blog! This is the first post of many to come, and I figured what better than classic chocolate chip cookies?

When I was making this recipe, I tried most of the popular cookie recipe changes out there. I tried dark brown sugar, all brown sugar, lots of cornstarch, yolks only, etc.

And this recipe is what I settled on being my favorite! Not too rich, not too much spread, just right if you like a soft & chewy cookie.

These cookies are similar to the usual chocolate chip recipe, with a few key changes to make then bakery-style.

I typically make a half-batch of these cookies, which yields about 14. I make 12 at a time, and put the remaining dough in the freezer until I am ready to bake those.

For a half-batch, you will need to use half of an egg. The best method I have found for this is to go by weight: place a bowl on a scale and tare it, then beat the egg in a separate bowl and pour it in until you have 25g. You can also tare the bowl you crack the egg into, add the egg and beat it, then pour off a little at a time until you have about 25g remaining.

These cookies have a lot of similarities to the usual chocolate chip recipe, with a few key changes to make then bakery-style.

More brown than white sugar

This creates a richer flavor, and adds a little bit to the chewy texture. For an even deeper flavor, use dark brown sugar (or just add 1-2 tbsp molasses to the light brown sugar)

You can also use all white sugar, and add anywhere from 2-4 tbsp of molasses to it, depending on how “dark” you would like the flavor. As brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses in it, and dark brown sugar just has more molasses, this works the same as using brown sugar in the first place.

Egg + Egg Yolks

Extra yolk makes the texture softer and chewier. Not necessary, but definitely an improvement. If you don’t want to use more yolks, just replace the 2 yolks with 1 whole egg.

I haven’t tried this recipe with any egg substitutes, but if you are going for vegan, you could certainly try flax eggs or vegan egg substitute. Just make sure to look for something that says it works for baking applications.

Butter Flavoring

As the name implies, this one is for flavor improvement. It does not make the final product taste like butter, it will just increase the richness and gives it more of that “bakery” taste.

You can also replace this with 1/2 the amount as peppermint extract for mint cookies! Optionally you can add green food coloring with the eggs and extracts too.

If you’d like them to be stronger on the mint flavor, you can increase it to 3/4 or the full amount, but they will be stronger than a normal lightly minty cookie.

Cornstarch

This is a very useful addition, as it helps them stay thick when baked and can help keep the centers soft. It also makes them a bit chewier, but is not required.

Extra Chocolate Chips/Chunks

Probably the most obvious addition, but more chocolate is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) differences between homemade and bakery cookies. I use 24oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I will switch between using all chips and going half chips and half chunks.

If you want some more variety, you can use a mix of milk, semi-sweet, bitter-sweet and/or dark chocolate pieces. If you use a chopped chocolate bar of any kind, it will be very liquid when they are warm and increase the spread of the cookies.

Ring Molds

I use 3″ ring-shaped molds that are oven safe to bake my cookies in. It makes them perfectly round, but also keeps them a more even height. It also keeps the edges from getting crispy, so they are evenly soft all the way through.

If you would prefer a slightly wider and flatter cookie, with crisp edges, skip the ring molds.

My Sheet Pans: https://amzn.to/3VyrMqt

Silicone Mats: https://amzn.to/3VnqihA

Cookie Rings: https://amzn.to/3z3NucQ