Using melted butter makes this dough easy to mix up at a moment's notice. There's no need to allow butter to come up to room temperature, no need to chill the dough before baking. There's also no need to get out your mixer because it can easily be mixed by hand.Reducing the oven temperature allows the balls of cookie dough to begin to bake and set up before the heat spreads them out on the baking sheet. It creates a cookie with a delicate crisp exterior and a chewy, soft interior.This recipe incorporates my homemade substitution for cake flour. Cake flour's lower protein content helps to create a more tender cookie. A few years ago, I discovered that I could easily make my own cake flour substitute using All-purpose flour and cornstarch. If you prefer, you can omit the cornstarch and use 2 ½ cups of All-purpose flour instead or cake flour if you happen to have it on hand.I like to vary the chocolate chips. chocolate chunks, and baking bits I use based on what I have in my baking pantry. I often use a mix of milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and white chocolate. You can use a single type or mix a few of your favorites for a delicious batch of cookies.
2¼cup chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or baking bits
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and position the oven racks in the top and bottom third of your oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment or a Silpat style reusable baking liner.
Place the melted butter and both sugars in a large mixing bowl. Stir with a spoon or spatula, scraping the sides of the bowl until the mixture is smooth. Because the butter is melted, there's no need to stir for several minutes, only until everything is well combined and smooth.
Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla to the bowl and stir until the eggs have broken apart and fully integrated into the mixture.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. Use a dry whisk to mix the ingredients together and break up any small lumps. You can sift the dry ingredients if you prefer.
Add the dry ingredients in one addition to the bowl. Stir until the dry ingredients have completely integrated into the dough. This shouldn't take long. Stir until there are no visible streaks of flour in the dough.
Add the chocolate chips, chunks, or baking bits to the dough and stir until they are well distributed throughout the dough.
Create balls of dough that weigh approximately 2 ounces each or about ¼ cup. Place four balls on each baking sheet, spacing evenly to prevent the cookies from touching as they bake.
Bake the cookies for 16to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking time tohelp to ensure that the cookies are evenly baked. If you prefer a cookie with asofter interior, pull the cookies at around 16 minutes. If you like a cookiewith a crisp texture inside and out, 18 minutes bake time should create justwhat you are looking for. The cookies should bake up to an even thickness anddry ever so slightly on top. They may appear to be under baked, but they willfirm up upon cooling to room temperature.
Remove the cookies from the oven, allowing them to cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet to set up. As with any cookie, these are even more delicious when eaten while still warm with a cup of coffee or tea or with a cold glass of milk.
Notes
Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for several days although they never last that long here at the farmhouse.