Why Softened Butter?
I’ve seen a lot of people have issues with browned butter in most cookie recipes. A lot of the time, you’ll either find that you didn’t brown the butter enough and you’re left with too much liquid, or, you left it on the stove for a few seconds too long and it’s all burnt.
For simplicity, I wanted to create a cookie recipe that does not require any difficult ingredients that may cause issues. By using softened butter in this recipe, the granulated sugar and brown sugar will mix together well and create an incredibly smooth texture. Using softened butter as opposed to melted butter will also help the cookies hold their shape better when baking in the oven.
The Difference Between Room Temperature and Softened Butter
Yes, there is a difference between room temperature and softened butter! When you look it up on Google, it will most likely tell you that you can use room temp and softened butter interchangeably when following recipes. However, I have always found that there is a slight temperature and texture difference when it comes to the two.
For the following example, I will be referencing a full stick of butter (8 tbsp) : If you have a room temperature stick of butter that you have left out on your counter for a couple of hours, you can squish your fingers into it leaving only a small indent. On the other hand, softened butter will allow you to squish the stick of butter leaving very noticible indents.
Chilling the Dough
Please do not skip the chilling process for this recipe! By wrapping the cookie dough balls up and placing them in the refrigerator for a few hours before baking, you will notice that the flavor has time to really lock into the dough giving you a much more delicious outcome.
Along with that, these cookies will spread out too much in the oven if you skip the chilling process! By allowing the cookies to firm up in the refrigerator, the butter will in turn harden throughout the cookie dough. This means that the butter will take longer to melt when placed in the hot oven. This delay in the melting of the butter is how you will achieve a thicker cookie.
70% Cocoa
The type of chocolate that you use for this recipe is important! Honestly, it should be something that you consider for every recipe that calls for chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, chopped chocolate bars, etc.
By using the Lindt 70% cocoa dark chocolate bars (this is just the brand that I prefer but feel free to use a different brand as long as it’s 70% cocoa) you will notice a better balance of that bittersweet chocolate flavor with the sweetness of the overall cookie dough. This cookie dough obviously has granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract which are all ingredients resulting in a sweet dessert. By adding the chopped rich dark chocolate pieces, you will be left with a much more decadent cookie than if you were to use classic semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Chopped Chocolate Bar vs. Chocolate Chips
Personally, I prefer roughly chopping a chocolate bar as opposed to using chocolate chips in this cookie recipe. The chopped chocolate pieces will melt so much easier when baked and they will also give the cookies a better “bakery-style” look in the end. Not to mention, it’s a better experience biting into those thin melted pieces of chocolate compared to many large chocolate chips. That being said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using classic chocolate chips if you prefer that!
Why Cornstarch?
As you may know, a lot of my recipes consist of cake flour (aka my favorite ingredient). However, there are many people that do not have access to cake flour or they simply do not want to purchase that extra ingredient as it is not something that they will get much use out of on a daily basis.
In order to mimic the amazing texture that cake flour brings to baked goods, I decided to add 1 tbsp of cornstarch to this cookie recipe. This gives the cookie dough a much softer texture and just a more delicate bite overall. And, no, you do not need to add baking powder in order to mimic cake flour! I always use Swans Down cake flour which does not consist of any leavening agents.
Classic Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
Method
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. You can do this using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer (the mixture should be lighter in color and smooth in texture after this step).
- Add in the room temperature egg and the vanilla extract and mix well to combine.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda.
- Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until combined.
- Next, add in the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.
- Roughly chop the chocolate bar and fold the chopped chocolate into the cookie dough until it's evenly distributed.
- Using a large cookie dough scoop, scoop out 15 cookie dough balls and place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet or a large plate.
- Wrap this baking sheet or plate in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight.
- Once you're ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (if you're baking all of the cookies at once, you will need two or three pans depending on the size).
- After the cookie dough balls have finished chilling, roughly chop more chocolate and top each cookie dough ball with those chocolate pieces.
- Place 6 cookies on your baking sheet a few inches apart and bake at 375℉ for 10-13 minutes or until the edge of each cookie is just slightly golden brown. (The baking time will vary depending on your oven as well as how long you chilled the dough!)
- After you pull the cookies out of the oven, sprinkle each one with coarse or flaky sea salt and enjoy!
Leave a Reply