Cookie Challenge, Take 2

So I made the 2nd cookie in my quest for the most perfect chocolate chip cookie... and it was pretty darn good.

I went with Alton Brown's The Chewy for round 2. It certainly was a good cookie, good enough in fact that I used the same batter recipe to make the hubs butterscotch cookies the following week.

I think I've run in to an issue with this cookie challenge though - I think the problem is I can't figure out what type of cookie I like!! This week, to try and figure things out, since I have been too sick to bake lately, I bought a break and bake package of the Pilsbury Simple chocolate chip cookies - you know the ones that are all natural ingredients? Well, aside from them being overly greasy - I think I really like that thin crispy type of chocolate chip cookie. And while I do enjoy the thick and chewy ones too - I think I really dig the thin ones - crispy edges, squishy center.

So now I'm on a mission to find that type of chocolate chip cookie recipe as well - you know I want to be fair and equitable to all of the recipes I can :)

But now on to 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

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Hardware:

Ice cream scooper / cookie scoop

Silpat

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.

I took a pile of cookies to my office - these seemed to get a better review from most people than the brown sugar ones the weeks before.

My review:

Chocolate Chip Used: Toll House Milk Chocolate Chip

Ease of Recipe: Pretty easy to put together, not too many ingredients, did get tedious though with 2 T of this, 1 of this and the bonus egg yolk but overall still easy.

OOO (Out of Oven) Texture: only crispy thing about the cookie is the bottom. Nice shape, full and poofy, light cookie, spongy-cake like when you get a piece without chocolate chips in it.

OOO Taste: Not too sweet, the chips are extremely creamy - seems like this is a good baking chip.

Milk Dunk Test: doesn't absorb much milk or get mushy or anything. Better not dipped in milk.

DA (Day After) Texture:Denser than the day before, not so spongy, but still has a cake-like quality. A little crunch on the outside but interior is still really soft.

DA Taste: flavors blended more but still a choc. Chip cookie.

Appearance: Very even dimension, very poofy/tall cookie, gets a little crinkly top crust on it. A nice looking cookie.

Husband Rating: Better if no chocolate. Very soft, just spongey, not so chewy. Good, but too much chocolate (all 6 chips he had!). I did make these with butterscotch chips too and he said it was a great cookie without the chocolate chips!

Overall Notes: I like the cakey texture of this cookie but do wish it was a bit crispier. It's really a great cookie warm and fresh out of the oven or re-heated in the microwave. Overall a good cookie, I think I like it better than the brown sugar cookies the other week.