The Great Cookie Debate

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If you’re like me, the hunt for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe never ends. I have yet to find “it.” That being said, I hit moments where I get close. When I’m trying out recipes, I’m always comparing them to my memory of the perfect chocolate chip cookie. For me, it’s hands down the chocolate chip cookie from Tiny Boxwoods (the West Alabama one thank you). It’s everything from how they present it to you on it’s own personal wooden cutting board, to how it always comes out just warm enough to where it’s set but still melty and perfectly salted. Perfection. I’ll take 2 with a glass of their iced sangria please.

I have searched high and low for an imitation recipe of this cookie, and tried many of the recipes who claim to have duped the original, but with no luck. The outcome is never the same. Tiny’s chocolate chip cookie is in a league of its own. Tiny’s, if you read this, please expand to Denver – there are so many of us transplanted Texans that I promise we would support the business. If you need a location scout to emulate that West Alabama or even the West U experience (with better parking), I have thoughts.

When we moved to Denver, I started the search again for the “perfect” chocolate chip cookie since my previous failed attempts at recreation were now paired with the inability to cheat and just go buy them. After too many recipes and trials to count, I finally landed on what would become my HUSBAND’s favorite chocolate chip cookie. I love this cookie recipe too, but the texture is a little crisp for me. I prefer a chewy cookie, even when it’s room temp and a day old. Will post my husband’s favorite at a different time – it does have a genius method to it and comes out perfect every time. Just not MY favorite.

A move sparks a new favorite

After we had our first baby, we relocated from Denver (Cherry Creek) to South Denver. While this put us out of Denver’s food scene, we were introduced to what I can call the equivalent of Eatzi’s in Denver. Enter, Tony’s. Tony’s became our go-to place almost immediately for quality cuts of meat, amazing desserts, and specialty food items. One of the things I love about Tony’s is that they continue the tradition of giving children free cookies while shopping with their parents. Admittedly, I stole a bite of my daughter’s free cookie one day and immediately discovered our high-altitude perfect chocolate chip cookie.

Very different from Tiny’s chocolate chip cookie in both flavor and texture, Tony’s chocolate chip cookie is lighter in color, very sweet, and hits more on the cookie dough spectrum of the flavor profile, IMHO. Quick shout out for all of Tony’s other cookie offerings as well… My personal favorite is their chocolate chip cookie with the addition of butterscotch chips. What also makes Tony’s a game-changer for us in the cookie department is that they sell their cookie dough FROZEN in pre-shaped balls, so you can bake all of them at one or pull one out to pop in the oven if you get a craving. We can no longer keep these in our freezer for obvious clothes-fitting reasons. Financially as well, we needed a cheaper option to make our own Tony’s cookies instead of splurging for the $15 2lb bin of frozen dough. Worth it, but EXPENSIVE! The amount of money we were spending monthly on cookie dough was embarrassing.

Back on the hunt

After a few years of having our go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe – aka Husband’s favorite – I was back on the hunt to find a recipe that would give me that salty, doughy texture to emulate our new favorite cookie at Tony’s. After what would become close to a year of cookie trials, my husband finally requested we go back to our “normal” chocolate cookie recipe. Right as I was about to give in to the request is about the time I discovered Half Baked Harvest. 

As someone who feels like the Rockies market is un-tapped as far as cooking goes, I was thrilled to find a high altitude food blogger. No more endless, failed efforts at high altitude baking conversions! Her food is also super creative and different from our normal menu. Just from a personal perspective as well, I enjoy her approach as very refreshing change to the normal “me monsters” that seem to flood my instagram.

After trying (and loving) several of her savory recipes – I’ll do a post on some of my favorites another time – I did a search through her site to see if she had any chocolate chip cookie recipes. The one I settled on was her HBH Christmas Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe which is actually a recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction who can do no wrong in the kitchen! There are 3 key things that stick out about this recipe, one of which made me a convert right away. The first is a lower baking temperature than your standard 350, the second is the addition of a single egg yolk, and the third is the call for MELTED BUTTER.

The Butter Revolution

I can honestly say in my YEARS of searching for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, I have never come across one that uses melted butter. That was enough to get me to try it. Particularly since I loathe creaming butter and sugar. Yes, I have a KitchenAid mixer, but still. For some reason, this is not a favorite step in any baking, I never have the foresight or patience to allow the butter to properly come to room temperature, and I was thrilled to not have to deal with the cleaning of my mixer that particular evening.

Randomly, I was also on an M&M kick due to my toddler’s recent discovery of M&Ms, so we are putting them in literally everything to make it fun! That however is one of the changes I have made from the standard recipe. I don’t always feel like candy in my cookies, and when looking for pure chocolate chip goodness, I don’t add them and just double the chocolate. When I’m looking for fun or my toddler wants to assist – the M&Ms come back! I recently just made them with Valentine’s themed M&Ms and they are darling (and delicious). 

Full disclosure – my husband thinks these chocolate chip cookies are “too dense.” Sorry, the debate continues. But he is wrong as you can’t achieve a doughy chocolate chip cookie WITH crunchiness. The 2 opposites marry each other.

My (barely there) changes

Y’all, I am not a recipe developer and am average in every way around the kitchen. That being said, thanks to Samin Nosrat, I have become addicted to SALT to balance out my sweet dishes. Also paired with my love for vanilla (thank you Ina), these are the 2 changes I made to adapt this already perfect recipe to my particular tastes. More salt and more vanilla.

I also want to specifically highlight a few of the instructions HBH provides to ensure a cookie set apart from the others:

1. Bake at 325 degrees – YES. Reminder to not go on autopilot here with 350!
2. The cookies will look very soft and under baked – YES. You don’t want a hint of any browning. I didn’t follow this advice the first time I made these and was vastly disappointed by the turnout. No dense doughy-ness. Only crispiness once cooled.
3. Remove from oven and allow to cool on cookie sheet for 10 min BEFORE removing to wire rack – YES. This is totally counterintuitive to what I normally do with cookies as I’m inclined to put them on the cool rack right away. Gamechanger.

One of the best things about these cookies other than their adorable appearance, delicious doughy texture, and flavor is their ability to stay fresh for a few days after baking. HBH states 10 days, but cookies have NEVER made it longer than 3 days in my house. That being said, on the 3rd day, they still tasted just as good and perfect as the day I made them.

Time for the recipe! Give them a try – I promise you will love them! Unless you are like my husband… If that’s the case, package them up and give them to your neighbors for some goodwill.

The Non-Debatable Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon salt – I add an extra ¼ tsp to make it ¾ tsp total
• ¾ cup butter, melted
• ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract – I overflow to a scant tablespoon
• ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ½ cup M&Ms (or choc chips if not feeling candy)

Instructions

1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt together in a large bowl, Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until no sugar lumps remain. I like to do this on the stovetop, but let cool slightly before you add the eggs.*
3. Whisk in the egg, then the egg yolk, then the vanilla.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.
5. Fold in the chocolate chips and M&Ms
6. Cover the dough and chill for at least 2 hours (or up to 3 days)
7. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow to soften slightly at room temp for 10 minutes while the oven preheats.
8. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
9. Roll the dough into balls, about 3 TB per cookie. I like to use an ice cream scoop and then split the scoop in half – 2 cookies per scoop.
10. Place onto cookie sheet, do not flatten, about 3 inches apart
11. Bake for 11-12 minutes. They will look soft and under baked.
12. Remove from the oven and allow to cool ON the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
13. Optional: Sprinkle with flaky sea salt
14. Cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container for up to 10 days – no way they last that long 🙂 I prefer to bake off a few and then while the cookies are baking, roll, freeze and bag the remaining dough so I can bake a few whenever I need them.

*I’ve also made these several times in one bowl when I’m feeling particularly against doing a million dishes.