The average person in the US will eat almost 20,000 cookies during their lifetime!
Do you love eating cookies? To make sure you’re eating the best possible option available, why not master the classic chocolate chip cookie recipe yourself?
In this blog post, we’ll teach you how to make chocolate cookies from scratch! Don’t be disheartened if it takes you a couple of batches to perfect this recipe.
Once you get the hang of this classic recipe, you’ll never eat store-bought cookies again. Keep reading to learn how to make the cookies!
Start With Simple Ingredients
Before you start baking, it’s important that you’ve weighed out all of your ingredients so that they’re ready to go! You’ll need:
- 1 cup of softened butter
- 2 cups of baker’s sugar
- 2 medium-sized eggs
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 3 cups of plain flour
- 2 cups of chocolate chips (or more depending on your tastes!)
You’ll also need to grease a baking tray. This should be done in advance to ensure the cookie mixture can go straight into the oven as soon as it’s ready.
Let’s Get Baking
The directions for making chocolate chip cookies are simple and once you’ve read them through a few times you’ll know them by heart!
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Beat the sugar and butter in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until creamy and pale in color.
- Crack the eggs and add them one at a time, slowly mixing them into the dough.
- Add the vanilla extract and salt.
- Sieve the flour into the bowl slowly and fold it into the mixture.
- Finally, add in the chocolate chips.
- Once everything is stirred together, drop spoonfuls of mixture onto your greased baking tray.
- Bake the cookies in the oven for ten minutes or until they look golden.
- Remove your cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on a wire rack.
Finally, it’s time to taste your delicious cookies! Make a pot of coffee and share them with family or friends.
Useful Tips for Baking the Perfect Cookies Every Time
Although this is a very simple recipe, it may take some time to master completely. There are many variables that can make getting the perfect cookie somewhat difficult.
Let’s take a look at a few ways you can ensure your cookies don’t come out too hard, soft, or cake-like!
Don’t Over Mix Your Cookies
It can be very easy to overmix your dough, especially the first time you make your cookies. However, this may result in very flat cookies that spread across the baking tray and turn into one giant cookie!
Furthermore, overmixing your cookie dough will mean that the ingredients will become warm which can also result in flat cookies!
If your dough appears too warm or runny, simply chill the ingredients in the refrigerator for half an hour before baking.
Overbaking Your Cookies
Even if your cookies look slightly underdone when you pull them out of the oven, you’ll be amazed by how delicious they taste after half an hour of cooling.
If you overbake your cookies you will end up with hard, crystallized bites that simply aren’t as doughy and delicious as they could be! Of course, this does depend on personal preference.
Using Too Much or Too Little Flour
Too much flour can be disastrous for your cookies as they’ll come out very dry and crumbly. Make sure your cup of flour is completely level.
If you have too little flour, your cookies will be too greasy and buttery which also makes for an unpleasant cookie experience!
Salted Butter
When you’re baking, it’s always a good idea to avoid pre-salted ingredients. If you like salty cookies, you want to be able to adjust the levels of salt in your dough by yourself!
By adding salted butter, you throw off your ratios. Before you bake your cookies, give the dough a little taste to ensure it’s the right level of saltiness for you!
Too Tall Cookies
If your cookies don’t flatten at all, then it’s likely that your oven is set to the wrong temperature. You may want to consider buying a thermometer to check the temperature manually.
However, it could also be that your dough was too cold when you baked it or that your butter and sugar mixture wasn’t creamed well enough.
Delicious Additions to Your Cookies
If you’ve perfected this recipe then it’s time to jazz it up a bit more! Why not add in some walnuts, orange rind, or swap one cup of white sugar for a cup of brown sugar?
There are many ways to alternate the flavors in your cookies. Experimenting with your favorite textures and flavors is the best way to find your perfect recipe.
You may want to add in your favorite snack foods such as salted pretzels or candies such as M&Ms.
Foods Guy offers some brilliant ways to make your meals more interesting by adding just a few simple extras. Check out his website!
Now You Know How to Make Chocolate Cookies From Scratch
Try making multiple batches and take note of all of your adjustments to figure out exactly how to make the perfect cookie to your tastes.
Now you know how to make chocolate cookies from scratch, why not move onto baking brownies, cupcakes, florentines, flapjacks, and scones?
When you’re comfortable with your baking abilities, bake a bunch of cakes and serve them to friends and family with a cup of tea. This is a great birthday party idea!
Have you enjoyed this article? Visit the rest of the website for more baking tips and tricks.