Fingerlickin' Chocolate chip cookies

I have been trying to make the perfect chocolate chip cookies, the kind which I like. Now, what is the kind which I like? I like them very lightly browned on the top, browned at the bottom and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. See.. thats why I have never been able to get it right till date. And, starting yesterday night, I have been on a project and these have turned out the way I love them.

I followed the recipe at Crepes of Wrath and I do not know what is the main difference in the recipe, as the only different thing which I felt I did was refrigerate them, which made the dough more easy to handle and also much better in consistency within the cookie.

Below I just paste the recipe over from Crepes of Wrath, also for my reference later on. The recipe yields about 24 cookies.

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups (16 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (I used half milk chocolate and half semisweet – so sue me)
raw sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Method

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

2. Beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, at least 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add in the eggs, one at a time, until completely incorporated. The mixture will look light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and beat in for 5 seconds.

3. Add in half of the flour, mix for 15 seconds, then add in the rest of the flour gradually until just moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon. Cover the bowl tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours (I skipped this step and really wish that I hadn’t. I think you should chill it for at LEAST 3 hours, and I will do this next time).

4. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line and/or grease two baking sheets. Roll the dough into a ball the size of 2 tablespoons. Place them on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart, and press down just slightly with your palm. Sprinkle with a pinch of raw sugar, if you like. Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until the edges of the cookies are golden brown and the tops just start to darken. 

5. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the cookies for cool for at least 10 minutes, them remove to another surface to finish cooling. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or frozen for up to 2 months.

Some changes which I did as per availability and convenience... I did not have sufficient brown sugar, so replaced the quantity with granulated sugar. I used only milk chocolate chips as I had run out of semi-sweet ones. I refrigerated the dough mixture overnight as it was getting too late, so that would have been about 8 - 9 hours. Following which I left it outside at room temperature for 15 - 20 minutes prior to baking. While baking, I did not sprinkle sugar on top also. Also, I did not bake the entire dough mixture, I froze about half of it in the morning once I was done baking about 12 - 15 cookies. These are the best tasting cookies which I have had home-made and I think this recipe is a keeper for ages.