Chocolate Chip Cookies

Look, I love Claire Saffitz…but I knew when I arrived to the Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe, we would be at odds. If there is anything I know how to make in this world, it is chocolate chip cookies; it’s the only dessert I ever truly want, and yes, my cookies are the best. Nevertheless, I gave Claire’s cookies a try.

There are several ingredients Claire uses that I would never even touch for my own chocolate chip cookies recipe. For starters, I use shortening, and I’m a firm believer in it. I can tell when cookies have butter in them, and most of the time, I’m not here for it. Claire also uses heavy cream, and chocolate coarsely chopped rather than chocolate chips. My chocolate chip cookie recipe is handed down from my grandma, it’s definitely more down home than Claire’s; but hey, if something ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Anyways, I started Claire’s recipe by browning butter on the stove. I’m noticing more and more that Claire LOVES anything with browned butter. Can’t say I don’t notice the difference, but also can’t say it’s effective enough for me to do this every time I bake something. I added the browned butter to a bowl with solid butter, then added in the heavy cream.

As that cooled together, I mixed the dry ingredients in another bowl. Once the browned butter combination was cooled down, I added the sugars and whisked it together. Similar to my own recipe, you do not need a mixer if you don’t want to use one for Claire’s recipe, which I appreciate. I then added eggs and vanilla, then the flour mixture to create what I would call a cookie batter; it was much looser than mine. I added the chopped chocolate, a combination of bittersweet chocolate and milk chocolate, and mixed it all together for a completed cookie dough.

I am still lacking an ice cream scoop, so instead I used a ¼ cup measure to scoop the dough on to a baking sheet. Usually, this is where I’m getting ready to put cookies in the oven with my own recipe, but with Claire’s, you have to put the dough in the fridge to firm up. I am not patient enough when it comes to Chocolate Chip Cookies for this step! She suggested between 12 to 48 hours—I gave the cookies three and they were firm enough to work with.

Typically, I can place about 11-12 cookies on a baking sheet for the oven, but with Claire’s I only got about 4-6 on a baking sheet. I could tell from the picture in the book that I’d need room for these cookies to space out, so I tried to give them all the suggested three inches of space. Still, the cookies ended up connecting in some batches. I baked the cookies for about 20 minutes, which seemed necessary for getting the middle baked, but then made the edges a little too dark.

As Claire mentioned, these are not “cake” dough cookies, meaning the dough is not thick and fluffy like I’m used to with my own recipe. I certainly took this experience as a learning curve for something I’m so familiar baking, but let’s be honest—I’m sticking to my Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe forever and ever! I was anticipating these cookies may be similar to what I’d get for a massive cookie at a coffee shop, but it was still different from that. The chopped chocolate chunks basically mesh into the dough during the baking process, so there aren’t as obvious “chips” that I usually enjoy. I love Claire, but when it comes to Chocolate Chip Cookies, we’re just going to agree to disagree on this one.

I must say, Claire’s YouTube video on her Chocolate Chip Cookies makes them look way more appetizing than how mine turned out. See for yourself!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPauR6tP_cg