My New Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie

Everyone has their own personal favorite - some with more sugar, some with more chocolate chips, some with nuts. And even if you're not eating your favorite, chances are the one you're eating is still pretty good. Of course I'm talking about chocolate chip cookies. Ever since I watched that Alton Brown episode with the Flat, Puffy and Chewy chocolate chip cookies, I've tried lots of recipes, but strangely enough, not one of Alton's. Finally this weekend I tried two - the chewy and the puffy - both living up to their name. I'm going to have to say my favorite was the Puffy. No wait, the Chewy. Ok, the Puffy. Final answer.

I made minor changes to both and loved them, so I know the original recipes (below) will be great.

THE CHEWY

Ingredients

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used 3 tsp vanilla)
  
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1 cup white chocolate chips and 1 cup crushed oreo cookies)
  

Hardware:

• Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
• Parchment paper
• Baking sheets
• Mixer

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

THE PUFFY

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter-flavored shortening
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 1/4 cups cake flour (I used AP Flour)
  
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used 2 1/2 teaspoons)
  
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used chocolate chunks)
  

Hardware:

• Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
• Parchment paper
• Baking sheets
• Mixer

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the shortening, sugar, and brown sugar in the mixer's work bowl, and cream until light and fluffy. In the meantime, sift together the cake flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside.

Add the eggs 1 at a time to the creamed mixture. Then add vanilla. Increase the speed until thoroughly incorporated.

With the mixer set to low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the shortening and combine well. Stir in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough. Scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 per sheet. Bake for 13 minutes or until golden brown and puffy, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool and store in an airtight-container.

The results: The chewy cookies stayed chewy until the next day. They spread a lot so they were pretty thin and my chocolate chips and oreos seemed to pool in the middle. Maybe because I didn't chill enough. The puffy cookies were beautiful. They were amazing right out of the oven and were lightly crunchy, yet tender the next day. I love the chocolate chunks in them. The hard part about the Puffy is that you need shortening and cake flour, neither of which I normally have in the house.