Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies Updated
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As if they couldn't get more perfect, well they just did. Perfect CCCs are upgraded and this is now THE only CCC recipe you need. They are my go-to for any event, potluck, or those times when I just have an itch for baking.
The recipe is very similar to the original Perfect CCCs, with a few extra additions to give them a sweet and salty touch. I have added olive oil in the batter and flakey sea salt on top. But, my secret ingredient is adding a chopped up Hershey's milk chocolate bar to the mix. make sure to read the TIPS section at the bottom of the recipe.
Try not to omit the Hershey's bar if you can. It's worth the trip to the gas station to pick one up. The combo of the semi-sweet chips that stay firm through baking mixed with the melty milk chocolate bar gives it the edge they needed!
I have found myself chopping up leftover Dove Valentine's hearts or Easter chocolate bunnies in place of the Hershey's bar. A great way to use up leftover candy. Halloween, I see you.... I have also been known to add festive sprinkles to fit the occasion. Muli-colored sprinkles for birthdays, red, white and blue for the 4th!
Perfect CCCs Updated
yields 32 cookies
Ingredients:
½ cup unsalted butter (I recommend Kerrygold), melted
½ cup olive oil (use a basic, not fancy olive oil)
3 cups all-purpose flour (if your dough looks too loose, you can add 1/4 cup extra of flour)
1 ¼ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 ½ cups light or dark brown sugar, firmly packed*
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
10 ounces, semi-sweet chocolate chips, roughly chopped
1 Hershey’s Chocolate Bar, roughly chopped (optional, if choose to omit, use 12 ounces choc chips)
Maldon Salt
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl mix both sugars. *You can use light or dark brown sugar. I like a dark cookie so I prefer dark brown sugar, but I switch off depending on what I have on hand. Pour the melted butter and olive oil into the bowl with the sugars and whisk until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking to combine. Stir in the vanilla.
Slowly add the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture. I found a wooden spoon to be the easiest for this job. Once the dough has almost come together, but still a little floury, add the chocolate chips and Hershey's bar. *I roughly chop my chocolate chips, so I could get more chocolate in each bite. I also love those little shavings of chocolate sprinkled through the dough!
Form 2-3 tablespoon size balls. I use a 2 tbsp. size cookie scoop, but overload the scoop a little bit to get a larger ball of dough. Place them on a cookie sheet 2 inches apart and fluff them a bit*. Do not overcrowd the pan. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with flaky Maldon salt and any extra chocolate bits left over from chopping.
Bake for 9 minutes, rotating the pan around halfway through. Bake until just barely golden around the edges, the key is to not overbake these! Shy on the underdone side.
TIPS:
Olive Oil: I note above, but when it comes to olive oil, please use a basic light olive oil. Nothing fancy or imported from Greece. You don’t want your cookies to taste like olives. I use Trader Joe’s or Bertolli light olive oil.
Butter: I love Kerrygold butter and can truly taste a difference when I splurge and use this butter. It’s suggested, but not required.
Chocolate: I love using Trader Joe’s semi-sweet chocolate chunks for this recipe. They bake up very dark despite being semi-sweet and I love the color contrast compared to the lighter milk chocolate Hershey’s bar. Please include the Hershey bar. It makes it!
Sugars: Do NOT, I repeat, do not use Trader Joe’s cane sugar or brown sugar. I love their olive oil and chocolate chunks for this recipe, but their organic cane sugar and brown sugar do not cut it. I’ve had multiple people, including myself, use these two sugars and say their cookies didn’t turn out. The sugars are not granulated enough. I don’t know quite how to explain it, but they are coarse and lead to a weird texture in the cookie.
Fluffing stage: After using the cookie scoop, I give the cookies a “fluff.” Simply just rough the cookies up a bit so more chocolate chips are showing on the top and they are more rustic-looking balls of dough instead of perfectly scooped. Then sprinkle with Maldon and more chocolate if needed.
I firmly believe this is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's easily become my most popular recipe on the site. Thanks to everyone who has made their own batch of Perfect CCCs. And if you haven’t yet, it's time to whip up a batch!
FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS:
To save your cookies for a rainy day, pre-scoop your cookie dough into balls onto a lined cookie sheet, “fluff” them, and then place the cookie sheet in the freezer to flash freeze them. One they are cold, transfer the balls of dough to a freezer-safe bag or container to freeze until you need them!
To bake, pull your frozen dough balls from the freezer and place on a lined cookie sheet. Let the dough come to room temperature for about 30 minutes or while your oven is preheating. Don’t forget to sprinkle with Maldon Salt, and then bake as normal!
Annie
