Chewy Café-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookie recipes are a dime a dozen and everyone seems to have a favorite. I wanted something sweet to bring to our friend's house and remembered Mary Ellen posting this recipe for Chewy Café-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies. She raved about the recipe so I was excited to give it a try.

You have to chill the dough, which means planning ahead if you want to make these, but they're worth the wait. I'm still not sure rolling the dough into balls, then tearing them apart and smashing them back together is worth the time and/or energy, but in the interest of following the recipe I did it this time. Next time I may just scoop the dough loosely and see how that works out.

These were delicious (and huge). Full of chocolate chips, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Not too sweet, either. I, unlike most people, didn't have a go-to recipe before this one and I don't think I need to look any further. These were everything I like in a chocolate chip cookie.

Chewy Café-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
As seen on Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations, from Host the Toast

2 cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted and cooled
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the cooled melted butter and the sugars with a hand mixer for about one minute. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract. Beat until just combined.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix just until there are no flour clumps left. Fold in the chocolate chips. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 325 degrees, making sure you have one rack in the middle of the oven. Line a few baking sheets with parchment paper (I needed 5, but it you don't have that many you can always reuse them once they've cooled).

Scoop 3 tablespoons of cookie dough at a time and roll into balls. Pull the balls apart by pulling on both sides, then put the two halves together again with the lumpy, torn sides facing up. Place the dough on a baking sheet, making sure the cookies have plenty of space to spread. (I was able to fit 5 cookies per sheet).

Bake for about 12 minutes, rotating half-way through, or until the cookies have spread out and the edges are golden, but the center of the cookie still looks soft and just slightly under-cooked. Remember, every oven is different, so you can start with just one or two cookies on the tray to see what baking time works best for your oven. Mine took 13 minutes.

Let cool on the baking sheets until the cookies are firm enough to remove. Place the cookies on wire cooling racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining batches, until all cookies are baked. Store in an air-tight container.