The ULTIMATE Chocolate Chip Cookie Experiment

I'm not sure why it took me so long to get around to doing this post because it's one that I've been excited to do; I think I just knew it would be a little time-consuming.  Whatever it was that was holding me back, I finally got my act together so here we go.

A little back-story (this post will be long) - As long as I can remember I have absolutely LOVED chocolate chip cookies.  I mean, I just love cookies in general, and any sweets for that matter, but chocolate chip cookies are at the very very top of favorite treats list.  Fortunately, or unfortunately depending what way you look at it, Taylor also really really loves them.  During our married life I have made chocolate chip cookies the majority of Sunday afternoons, and plenty of other times as well.  It's hard to make a bad chocolate chip cookie, but I decided that I wasn't satisfied with just average cookies.  I decided to do an experiment to determine which chocolate chip cookie recipe should be my ultimate go-to recipe.  I started this experiment over a year ago.

I enlisted the help of Pinterest and started pinning lots of recipes that claimed to be the best.  I knew that I didn't have it in me to make a million batches of cookies in one day (due to having a newborn and working from home), so I decided that the next best option would be to make the different recipes over a couple of months, and label and freeze the cookies while still deliciously fresh.  I actually love chocolate chips cookies after they've been frozen, so I wasn't too concerned with having to freeze them.

So I set out to make the various recipes.  I ended up freezing cookies from ten different recipes.  I made a couple of recipes that I didn't even think merited being a part of the experiment because I knew I would never be making them again with how they turned out.

One of the scorecards

After I had all of my samples ready I called in my tasters.  Cami and Tiff and I did the experiment together.  Cheyna wasn't able to make it, so she did the test the next day with the help of Garrin and one of her sisters (can't remember which one for sure, but I think it was Sagan).  I had each of the bags of cookies numbered.  We each had a blank scorecard which was numbered from one to ten.  Each of the cookies was to be rated based on texture and also on overall flavor, and then there was a space to add any notes about the cookie.  We had Taylor bring us a cookie.  We would each taste the cookie and then write on our scorecard the scores that we felt were most appropriate.  After we had tried all ten cookies we added up the scores and compared with each other.  For the most part, we agreed on which ones we loved and which ones were not our favorites.  There were a few surprises where we had completely differing opinions, but in the end we were able to come up with our most favorite go-to recipe.  The irony is that I'm not even using that recipe in my CCC baking these days.  I continued to tweak and experiment and I've since come up with my new favorite.  I'll include that at the end of this post.

Some of the tasters

Obviously everyone has different preferences of what they're looking for in a cookie, so take this for what it's worth.  One thing that I did discover in this process is that the process by which you mix the cookies makes an even bigger difference in the final outcome than the actual recipe you use.  So if you use an awesome recipe with the perfect mixing process you just can't go wrong.

#1 on our scorecards was the Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  I don't know if this is the actual recipe used for Mrs. Fields cookies, but I found this recipe online and decided to try it out.  This cookie got above average scores from all of us.  The texture was nice and chewy and the flavor was good.  A couple of us noted that it could possibly use a little more salt.

#2 was "The Best Ever Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies." This one did not live up to its name.  Most of us thought the texture was more cakey than chewy, and the flavor was a bit too floury.

#3 was Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies.  I know lots of people swear by pudding recipes, but we were not big fans.  It was too sweet, without the contrasting buttery and saltiness of other recipes.  And the texture was much too cakey for me.  I like some nice chewiness to my cookies.  But I should throw in there that Cheyna really liked this cookie, so if you have a desire to try it out, you just might love it like she did.  The cookies were really soft - I'll give them that.

#4 was a recipe I got from Tiff:
1/2 c. soft butter
1/2 c. shortening
2 eggs
TB vanilla
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
beat for like 3 minutes on high, until it's all very fluffy, then switch to a paddle attachment and add:
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
3 ish cups of flour. I always do a tester to see if more or less is needed
lots of milk chocolate chips I LOVE Guittard brand or whatever it is. The big chubbies.
This recipe scored in the top three for three of us, and not so well for one taster.  It seems that the flavors of butter, salt and brown sugar really stood out nicely in this cookie.

#5 is a recipe that I got from my brother-in-law Jeremy, and it's the recipe his mom (Cathy) uses.  I'm not sure where she got the recipe but here it is (I've been making these for a few years so I'm writing this down from memory; I hope I get it right - maybe I've changed it in my brain over the years):
1 C butter or shortening
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 - 2 C chocolate chips
Mix the first three ingredients together well.  Then add eggs and vanilla and mix.  Mix the dry ingredients separately and then add to wet ingredients.  Mix until just incorporated.  Add chocolate chips.  Bake at 375 for 9-11 minutes.
We loved the texture of these ones.  The unanimous consensus was that there was too much artificial butter flavor, and that was my own fault because I used a full cup of butter-flavored shortening.  Other than that everyone loved the flavor of these cookies.

#6 is the classic Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. However, I did mix it up just a little bit.  Before adopting Cathy's recipe this was the recipe I always used and I knew that I liked the results better if I made a few changes.  Here's the original recipe:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

• Directions: PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

  COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
  
  BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. 
  

The changes that I made were to use 3/4 C butter and 1/4 C butter-flavored shortening.  I just really like what shortening does for the cookies (more on that later).  I also used 1 cup of brown sugar and only 1/2 cup of regular sugar.  And I also added extra flour because I feel like these cookies always turn out a little flat for me.
These ones were the ultimate winner!  Three of us gave these the highest scores.  And the other tasters had them in their top three.  These had great texture, great flavor and they looked pretty.

#7 was a recipe that was supposed to be similar to Ben's Cookies.  This recipe was Cheyna and her family members' favorite and scored mid to high for the rest of us.  These ones turned out kind of flat, but that was quite possibly my own fault, and not a recipe problem.

#8 was a recipe that is super super popular on Allrecipes.com.  It's usually called Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I had tried this recipe before and figured it needed to be included in the experiment because of its popularity.  I must not have done a quality job of mixing these because they got bad reviews from all of us.  They ended up kind of flat, and everyone made comments about the flavor not being awesome.  Better luck next time Big Fat Chewy Cookie.

#9 was a slight variation on Cathy's recipe from #5.  The changes I made were to use 1/2 C butter, 1/4 C regular shortening, and 1/4 C butter flavored shortening.  Everything else stayed the same.  Overall these got good reviews, but didn't knock our socks off.  Again, I think I must have cut corners on the mixing because this recipe is much better than the ratings show.

#10 is called Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies.  These ones ranked consistently high, and for most of us were in our top three.  A couple of tasters noted that they might be better with more brown sugar and less white.  They had pretty good texture.

Hard at work

The remnants of our labors

Ok, so as if this post isn't already long enough I'm going to write some of the things that I learned in this process and then I'll include the recipe that I am using now.  The way the dough is mixed is as important as the recipe in my opinion.  The most important part of this mixing seems to be in the first steps when you mix the butter/shortening and sugars.  Whether you mix by hand or with a mixer the creaming of the first three ingredients should not be skimped on.  Mix and mix and mix until the mixture is light and creamy and fluffy.  This leads to a nice chewy cookie, with an almost crispy outer cookie and still a very soft chewy center.  I like my cookies almost doughy in the middle, and I think a widespread problem in cookie making is over-baking.  Obviously this is my personal preference, but I like the tops of my cookies to be barely cracking with little to no visible browning.  The bottom of the cookie should be a little golden, but not brown.  I way prefer to bake my cookies on stoneware.  They're almost impossible to burn and hardly ever end up flat on stone.  Obviously they still turn out delicious on metal, but an extra minute in the oven can be fatal and they continue baking on metal after being taken on out the oven.  I think shortening gives the final "crust" of the cookie a perfect texture.  I used to add extra flour willy nilly to make sure the cookies didn't turn out too flat; I've now learned that a small amount of flour can really change the final flavor and texture of the cookies.  I still add flour if the dough seems too wet/if the test cookies turn out too flat, but I'm more careful about it now.  Ok, I think I've preached a little too much.  I am no cookie expert and I'm sure plenty of people prefer their cookies to be done differently than my preferences, but as a long time chocolate chip cookie lover these were my results.  

So the recipe I've settled upon these days is Cathy's recipe with only a couple of changes:

1/2 C regular shortening

1/2 C butter-flavored shortening

1 C brown sugar

½ C white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 ½ C flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 – 2 C chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix shortening, brown sugar and white sugar in a big bowl.  Mix those ingredients GOOD!  Like real good.  Then add the eggs and vanilla and mix those really well until they’re fully incorporated and the mixture is nice and light, creamy and fluffy.

Then dump flour, baking soda and salt on top (recipes always tell you to mix the dry ingredients together before adding to the wet.  I assume that’s a good idea to make sure it gets mixed more evenly, but I don't usually do that.  Mix the wet and dry ingredients just until incorporated (I think it’s best to not use a hand mixer for this because that can make the end result a little tougher of a cookie; that being said a Bosch or Kitchenaid with a cookie paddle attachment work great).  If dough seems too wet add a small amount of flour.  After it’s just mixed add the chocolate chips.  I like to use half milk and half semi-sweet and I probably use about 1 ½ cups total, but that part is completely up to personal preference.  I really like the big fat Ghirardelli chocolate chips, but normal size chips work great too.  Make balls and put them onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 9 -11 minutes.  Take them out before they seem done!  If cookies fall too flat, add a small amount of flour to dough before making more cookies.