Chocolate Chip Cookies Revisited

Last March, I posted a delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe.  And while it is delicious, we've been able to improve upon it just a little bit based on some recommendations by one of Sumiko's friends from church, along with some of our own experience.  The recipe is almost exactly the same, but the technique has changed a bit.

Chocolate Chip Cookies 2
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter (real butter), softened
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl (I use my KitchenAid mixer, but you can also use a hand mixer), cream butter until pale yellow and shiny.  Add shortening and beat until combined.

Add sugar; mix until well-combined.  Add brown sugar and mix well.

The brown sugar should be packed tight enough that it
holds its shape once you take it out of the measuring cup.

After the sugars have been mixed into the butter.

Add vanilla and egg; mix well.  Add the flour mixture all at once, mixing until almost (but not completely) combined.  Add chocolate chips; mix just until they're evenly distributed and the flour has been incorporated.  Do not overmix.  I like cookies to be thick, so I've found that in order to get thick, chewy cookies, you first of all, need to make sure the butter isn't too soft.  The second thing is to scoop the cookie dough balls and then freeze or refrigerate them for at least several hours (see tips for freezing below).  I usually make the dough at least a day ahead.  Bake straight out of the refrigerator or freezer for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are light brown.  Cool 1 to 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

This is when you want to add the chocolate chips.

In this batch, I used half chocolate chips and half M&Ms.

Tips for freezing:

• Scoop the dough into balls.  Place dough balls on a cookie sheet and freeze for 15-20 minutes or until dough balls begin to harden.  Place dough balls in a zip-top bag and freeze.  When you're ready for some fresh cookies, simply pull the desired amount of dough balls out of the freezer and place them on your cookie sheet.  You can bake them frozen, but add a little time to the bake time. 
• You can also freeze baked cookies.  Simply bake as instructed, wrap cookies or place in zip-top bag and freeze.