The Baked Bite: Skinny, Yet Soft, Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chunky and chewy, thin and crispy, flat and chewy, soft-baked — there are so many different kinds of chocolate chip cookies. I’ve always been into thick, chewy chocolate chip cookies that are soft and doughy in the middle. Unfortunately, my boyfriend disagrees, much preferring the thinner, cooked-through variety.
As you can imagine, baking two sets of cookies can get a bit boring, not to mention tiring, so I set off on a mission to create a cookie that was thin, thoroughly cooked-through, and yet still chewy and soft enough in the middle for my liking. I read lots of cookie recipes, trying to deduce what ingredients gave cookies their texture, spread, and ‘doneness’. I think I finally cracked the code.
Thus, I present the skinny, yet soft, chocolate chip cookie. These are NOT, as the name makes clear, thin and crispy cookies. They have such a light and soft texture that they practically fall apart in your mouth when you eat them. If you’re looking for a middle ground between those and soft-baked, try these out. They are very easy to make, but they do require a 3 day chill in the fridge, so plan ahead!
The Recipe: Skinny & Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup cake flour
1 cup bread flour
1.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp kosher salt
8 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions:
In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, baking soda, and salt.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars. Then add the eggs, one by one, and vanilla extract and continue beating until fully combined.
Next, turn the mixer down to low, and add the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Continue mixing until the batter is just combined, making sure not to over-mix the batter. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and fold in the chocolate chips.
Dump the dough out onto a large rectangle of saran wrap. Roll the dough into a log about 1.5 inches in diameter. Wrap the dough log completely in saran and refrigerate for 3 days.
After three days, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Using a large, sharp chef’s knife, cut disks from the dough log. To do so, unwrap the dough log, place on a cutting board, and cut downwards about 1/2 inch from the end of the log. The disks may be a bit misshapen or break apart slightly - it’s totally fine, just pat into a disk with your hands.
Repeat until you have 20 disks.
Bake the cookies one sheet at a time (the other can rest at room temperature while you bake). After five minutes, open the oven, and, using an oven mitt, grab one corner of the baking sheet, lift it up about 3 inches, and drop it down rapidly onto the oven rack. Then rotate the baking sheet 180 degrees so the cookies that were previously at the front are now at the back.
After 3 more minutes, open the oven again and repeat the dropping motion described above (but do not rotate the baking sheet this time).
After two more minutes, the cookies should be deep brown at the edges but lighter in the middle. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
The cookies will keep at room temperature for two days in an airtight container, but a few days longer if you store in the fridge.