Box O Chocolates - Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

When it comes to making good chocolate chip cookies, there are a few tricks that can make a good thing even better.

Tips for Better Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here are some tips for making your chocolate chip cookies better than even the Toll House recipe:

Use real butter, not margarine
Use milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet
Use 1 Tablespoon of vanilla instead of whatever amount your favorite recipe calls for (if it's less than that)
Add a tablespoon or two of milk to the dough when you're mixing it so it won't be as tough and your cookies will come out chewier instead of crispy. (Of course, if you like them crispier, don't do this.)
Make sure the chocolate chip cookie dough is cold when you put it on your cookie sheet. Even go so far as to put it in the refrigerator between batches.
Make sure your cookie sheet has cooled to room temperature before putting a new batch on it. (To cool off a hot cookie sheet, just run it under some cool water and get the crumbs off while you're at it.)
Although you want your dough thoroughly mixed, don't overmix it.
To make your chocolate chip cookies all the same size, use an ice cream scoop or melon baller. Most housewares stores like Bed Bath & Beyond and Linens N Things have cookie dough scoops, and they come in various sizes so you can make your cookies big or small. (Of course, you'll have to adjust your baking time accordingly.) This makes cookie baking much easier. One thing to remember when using a cookie dough scoop is that once you've put the dough on the sheet, press them down a little bit so they aren't perfectly round. Otherwise you will end up with a slightly puffy chocolate chip cookie.

Most chocolate chip cookie recipes require you to bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes. Of course, this will depend on the size of your cookie, but if your cookies are average sized, and you want them to be chewy, bake them for 10 minutes. If after 10 minutes your chocolate chip cookies don't look done, leave them in for one more minute and then take them out promptly, even if they still look underbaked. Remember--the cookie will continue to bake on the hot cookie sheet, even after it's removed from the oven. Obviously, if you want crispier chocolate chip cookies, bake them longer. Just remember that since they continue to bake once removed from the oven, you run the risk of burning them.

Storage Tips

If you keep your cookies in a cookie jar, and you want them to stay soft, put a piece of bread in the cookie jar with the cookies.

If you are transporting your cookies somewhere and you want that fresh-from-the-oven temperature, put them in a plastic container with a lid and set them in the sun. If it's summertime, leave them in the car for a few hours. Your car will smell like chocolate, and when you take the cookies out to serve, they will be warm just as if they came out of the oven. Yum!

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