Bake me Crazy

I have been searching, searching, and searching for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and CCC recipe. This search began the minute I was born. I didn't know it yet, but that feeling something was missing in the middle of the night wasn't my baba - it was the absence of the perfect CCC. Now, years later, after many failed attempts, close calls and periods of fluctuating weight (Starbucks and I had a brief cookie-love) I have found the one. These will be my made-to-impress cookies, my bake-sale-show-off cookies, my jack-and-i-want-cookies cookies. And I will share them with you. I do not think these pictures do the cookies justice, but I just did not care to waste time photographing when there was munching to be done.

I've already let you in on my food52 discovery and love, so here is my new baking-secret: Brown Eyed Baker. It's possible that I was late to the game and you already know about her and her amazing site, but I wanted to share this in case you didn't. I saw her recipe for Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies and knew that I had stumbled upon something amazing - and honestly, they're even better than I ever imagined. When I tasted my first bite I yelled out "I can bake cookies like bakeries do!" - not clever or anything, but it sums up how great you will feel. Definitely go check out her site and this recipe in particular - but in case you don't feel like traveling today I posted the recipe below, all credit belongs to the brown eyed baker.

The Best-Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies.
2 cups plus 2T unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm 
1 cup packed brown sugar 
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 t vanilla extract
1 1/2 chocolate chips - I used a mixture of semi-sweet, milk and white chocolate.

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in chips to taste.

4. Roll a scant 1/4 cup of dough into a ball. Pull the dough apart with both hands into two equal halves. Turn so torn ends face upward and push the two sides back into each other to again form a single ball. Do not smooth the jagged the surface. Place on baking sheet 2 1/2 inches apart.

5. Bake until cookies are light golden and the outer edges start to harden but the centres are still soft and puffy - I found 14 minutes worked. Rotate baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets.