Nibble: Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

This chocolate chip cookie recipe is my secret weapon. I know, I know, 'tis the season to get all fancy with the baked goods, but truth be told, I'm a bit of a minimalist when it comes to holiday sweets: I like the tried-and-true classics without the extra fuss. And James is never happier than he is when a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies make its way from the oven to a common area where they're easily snatched every time he ambles by.

Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies. Can you hear the angels singing? With their mouths full?

Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies. Can you hear the angels singing? With their mouths full?

I swear by Food Network's Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I know that there's been much debate over cakey vs. chewy vs. crispy: I'm declaring it now, our household is a crispy chocolate chip cookie household. In my humble opinion, cookies are meant to be dunked in milk, and there's nothing I hate more than a cookie going all to pieces and ending up at the bottom of my glass. I won't abide that madness. 

To amp up the flavors a little, I made a couple tweaks to the ingredient list:

  • 1 Tb. Molasses, added when you add the vanilla.
  • Vanilla seeds scraped from 1/2 - 1 pod (whatever I have handy that I can spare), added when you add the vanilla.
  • 1 c. jumbo milk chocolate chips, instead of 1 1/2, because James and I agree that that is our optimal cookie-to-chocolate ratio.

I've also found that my new oven in Nashville gets all hot and bothered, cooking the dough all the way through in about 14-16 minutes. (In Brooklyn, 9 minutes a side was perfection.) The moral is that every oven is different, with its own quirks. Make a couple batches and scribble down what works for you on something that you won't lose, like a recipe print-out or your refrigerator or your kid.

The FN Dish blog did a wonderful comparison of all the different types of chocolate chip cookies, and explains what variations in the recipes yield which results. I'm sure the recipes for Cakey, Chewy and Crispy-Cakey cookies are all equally delicious. And now everyone can make the perfect chocolate chip cookie, no matter where your texture loyalties lie.

What's your favorite no-fuss cookie recipe?

-MMV.