The Best & Softest Chocolate Chip (and whatever other ingredients you want) Cookie Base you will EVER Make!
Now THAT’S a title! lol.
After testing out and tweaking TONS of cookie recipes, I’ve FINALLY landed on one that is AWESOMELY soft, and incredibly yummy! Not too sweet, never crunchy, no waiting for dough to chill, or need for any special ingredients. PLUS, the best part, is that it’s the perfect base for pretty much ANY add-ins you want! Chocolate chips of any kind (white, peanut butter, dark, milk) nuts, coconut, dried fruit, rolled in cinnamon and sugar. THIS BASE IS JUST SOOOO GOOD!
Got it? Have I used enough caps? Okay, good. Shutting up.
Now scroll through some pics, and head to the bottom for all the instructions and recipe 😘
GOOD STUFF TO KNOW:
* This recipe makes about 32-36 very puffy, very large, amazingly soft cookies. Feel free to cut this recipe in half… but know that these delicious babies freeze and reheat REALLY well!
* Out of the freezer, I reheat my cookie in the microwave on a defrost setting for 30 seconds. Then on a regular setting for about 10 seconds. Every microwave is different, but I swear, you will NOT be disappointed.
* I know I said you don’t need any special ingredients, and you DON’T! But just as a recommendation, I have found that GRASS FED butter makes SUCH a difference in the richness of this cookie batter. I don’t know the workings behind butter flavors, but woah… just try it sometime. I swear you’ll taste the difference.
I use this Kerrygold Irish butter from Costco. It comes in a two pack for… $7 or $8 I think? But they also sell it at Walmart. They package it in larger bricks, but really it’s just like two sticks of butter combined. So if you want to use this brand, you’ll need TWO of these bad boys. yuuuuummy
* Cooking these cookies on a dark metal pan or on a light metal pan WILL make a slight difference. Don’t freak, they’ll still turn out beautifully, but just know if you’re baking with a darker metal pan, your cookies might be slightly browner on the bottom. No biggie.
* If your cookies don’t look golden and “done” when the timer is up… TAKE THEM OUT ANYWAY. They are done enough, I PROMISE! Do NOT OVER BAKE these beauties. They should be puffy and set, but look blonde in color and basically be too doughy to eat straight out of the oven……. unless you’re gonna shove that gooey gorgeousness in a bowl and smother it with vanilla ice cream😛 Then by all means… cookie à la mode & bon appetite, yo!
* I know it’s hard, but WAIT the full 15-20 minutes for the cookies to cool (and keep baking slowly) on their pan, after you pull them out of the oven. It will make all the difference between having raw cookie middles, and cookies that turn out soft and perfectly chewy.
* Don’t ask me about the size of my cookie balls 😏. I don’t weight them or get real fancy. I just know that they’re definitely bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a bowling ball, and fit nicely in the palm of my hand. Oh! and I can only fit 9 on a pan at a time. So… hopefully the vagueness helps 😬
* Try hard not to over mix this batter at any stage. I promise, the less messing around you do with this beautiful batter, the better! Just mix things in your mixer until barely incorporated, and then mix the rest with your hands! Weird, I know, but It keeps the batter from being overworked. Just trust me on this one mmkay?
INGREDIENTS:
– 32 Tbl. salted butter (partially melted)
YES. Thats 32 Tablespoons, or FOUR sticks. This is NOT a mistake. And if you are now questioning whether or not you should actually make these cookies, because that just seems CRAZY… then maybe we should rethink being friends.😜
– 2 cups white sugar
– 1 cup packed dark brown sugar (light brown works great too, but I prefer the taste of the darker)
– 4 tsp. vanilla
– 4 eggs
Combine the partially melted butter, both sugars and vanilla in your mixing bowl. Give it a slow spin, to cool the butter down (so as not to scramble your eggs) and barely incorporate everything. Then add your 4 eggs and mix JUST until combined. Do NOT over mix.
In a separate, larger bowl, combine the following dry ingredients and using a whisk, work everything together.
– 6 cups flour + 2 Tbl.
– 2 tsp. baking soda
– 1 1/4 tsp. salt
While the mixer is off, add half of the dry mixture to the wet mixture and work together, just until slightly combined. You should still see unmixed flour (see picture above). Then add the rest of your dry mixture, and again, on a LOW speed, just barely incorporate things. You will STILL see a bit of dry flour, but that’s okay! Now just dump everything back into that big mixing bowl you had your dry ingredients in, and knead everything together JUST until you don’t see anymore traces of dry flour throughout.
TA-DA! You’re done! This is your AMAAAAAZING cookie base!
Now?… add whatever your little heart desires, and mix them in by hand. There really is no specific measurements, just eyeball things, and go from there! Here’s what I do for my favorite mix-in’s!
White Chocolate Chip, Coconut and Macadamia Nuts:
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup toasted coconut (bake sweetened, shredded coconut in the oven at 325 for 10-15 minutes)
Classic Chocolate Chip (with or without nuts):
1 1/2 – 2 cups of chocolate chips (dark, semi or milk… I’m a lover of all!)
3/4 cups walnuts, pecans, etc…
BAKING:
Roll cookie batter into large, round balls and do NOT pat them down. I’ve only ever done 9 cookies per pan.
– Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees.
Cookies should look set, puffy and blonde and BARELY have any golden color. DO NOT OVER BAKE these lovely, puffy clouds of awesome. They only keep their super soft center and slightly crips outside edge, if NOT over baked.
Remove your cookies and let them cool ON THE PAN for 15-20 minutes. They should sink down slightly. I know, I know… it’s a long time, but this will allow the cookies to keep baking very slowly, and result in a FABULOUS finished product!
Extra cookies can be stored in an airtight container, and freeze beautifully! (see above notes for reheating instructions)
Lisa says
WOW it's so nice to see a post from you, it's been a while. You have been missed 🙂 Those cookies look so yummy. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Melissa says
I agree!!! It is so nice to see you post. Now I am off to make some cookies.
Unknown says
We're baking these right this minute! My 12 year old bribed her teacher with homemade cookies to get out of an assignment today and apparently it worked��. So…your timing is impeccable! Question; when you say partially melted butter, do you soften half and melt half or heat it all up until it's almost all melted or am I way off?