Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies for an Easy Afternoon Batch

You can speed up your prep time and get Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies for an Easy Afternoon Batch baking quickly by heating the butter until it is mostly liquefied with a couple of unmelted chunks remaining. This slight warmth helps you vigorously whisk in the sugars in seconds, while the unliquefied fat provides the necessary base to yield 13 large portions with incredibly tender middles.

The butter temperature

You start by cutting 12 tablespoons (175 g) of unsalted butter into 0.8-inch (2 cm) cubes. You warm the cubes in the microwave in short bursts for up to 40 seconds. You need to stop heating the bowl while some solid pieces still remain. You whisk the fat to completely dissolve those remaining solid bits. Fully melting the butter until it turns completely transparent makes the baked cookie less soft.

Mixing and resting the dough

Combine 0.5 cups of packed brown sugar and 0.5 cups of caster or granulated sugar with the warm butter, whisking the mixture energetically for 15 seconds. Choosing light brown sugar will make the finished treats lighter in color than using the dark type. Next, add one egg, one egg yolk, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Whisk these wet ingredients together for 15 more seconds until you have a smooth base.

You pour the plain or all-purpose flour, salt, and baking soda (bicarb soda) into the bowl. You stir the wet and dry ingredients together. You drop the chocolate chips in gently at the end just until the flour disappears.

The batter will look very loose right after mixing. You must let it sit undisturbed for five minutes. The pause helps the wet dough firm up into a scoopable texture. You can put the bowl in the refrigerator for a few minutes if your kitchen is very hot.

Portioning the cookies

Standard volume measurements work universally for this dough without adjustment. Japan is the only exception, which requires weight measurements. You can use a levered frozen dessert scoop scraped flat to form even mounds. This tool saves you from rolling the soft dough by hand.

The recipe yields 13 large mounds if you use a three-tablespoon scoop. You place the portions 2 inches (5 cm) apart on trays lined with parchment paper. You can also make a bigger batch of 26 to 30 smaller cookies using a 1.5-tablespoon scoop. You leave 1.75 inches (4 cm) of empty space between the smaller mounds. You push the reserved chocolate chips into the tops of the unbaked mounds before they go into the oven. The melted pieces will stay clearly visible after they bake.

High altitude adjustments

Bakers at higher elevations need to change the sugar and egg ratios.

• Cooks at a 3200-foot elevation can drop the combined sugar to 0.5 cups and bump the heat to 340F. This environment also calls for two whole eggs in place of the standard egg and yolk.
• For baking at 7200 feet, you reduce the total sugar to 0.75 cups.

Baking and cooling

You preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) for a standard oven, or 320°F (160°C) if using a convection setting. You bake one tray at a time. You rotate the pan partway through the cooking time. The large portions need 11 minutes total. The small portions take 9 minutes. The cookies are ready when the edges turn golden and the centers look light blond.

You take the trays out of the oven and leave the cookies on the hot metal. The residual heat finishes cooking the centers. The swollen mounds deflate as they sit.

Storing the leftovers

Store the finished cookies inside a sealed tub and they will keep for three days. You can also freeze the baked batch. Just ensure the portions are defrosted before serving.

Raw dough lasts in the refrigerator for up to three days. You must roll the cold dough into balls before baking. Refrigerated dough requires one additional minute in the oven.