Alton Brown’s “The Chewy” Chocolate Chip Cookie
There are many recipes for chewy chocolate chip cookies floating around the universe, but Alton Brown’s was the first one that I came across that used bread flour in place of all-purpose flour. Doing so increases the protein content and helps to achieve a chewier cookie. Along with a high ratio of brown sugar to granulated sugar and an extra egg yolk, this little trick ensures that your cookies turn out thick and chewy, not the least bit thin and crispy. A smaller-sized cookie than some of the others that appear on the site, this recipe enables you to eat more than one without feeling too guilty ;-)
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Alton Brown's "The Chewy" Chocolate Chip Cookie
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter
- 12 ounces (340.2 g) bread flour, (about 2¼ cups)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 ounces (56.7 g) granulated sugar, (¼ cup)
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) light brown sugar, (1¼ cup)
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 ounce (28.35 ml) whole milk, (2 tablespoons)
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) vanilla extract
- 2 cups (360 g) semisweet chocolate chips, (12 ounces)
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan over low heat. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl; set aside.
- Beat together the melted butter and both sugars on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the whole egg, the egg yolk, milk and vanilla extract in a measuring cup or small bowl. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the egg mixture. Mix until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Once the flour mixture is incorporated, add the chocolate chips and mix briefly to evenly distribute them throughout the dough. Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F; place oven racks in the top third and bottom third of the oven.
- Scoop the dough into 1½-ounce portions onto parchment-lined half sheet pans, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake 2 sheets at a time for 15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Remove from the oven, slide the parchment with the cookies onto a cooling rack and wait at least 5 minutes before serving. Leftover cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
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These are my go to Chocolate chip cookie. Much better than any other including the ‘Toll House’ in my & my families opinion. Thanks for posting.
By weight, 12 ounces of bread flour is approximately 2 and 2/3 cups by volume. Does affect the recipe quite a bit. Sugar volumes are also different than amounts given.
Can I add coco powder to this recipe. If so how much I have made these cookies they are delicious. I want to make chocolate chip cookies and chocolate chocolate chip cookies for my son graduation party thanks Kristin Koss
I finally made these, and my consensus is” There is no chocolate chip recipe that can beat the original toll house recipe in flavor and texture. I don’t care for the higher ratio of brown sugar in these. These were good, but not as good as the tried and true. Baking at 15 minutes made them crisp and almost burnt. 10-11 minutes max made these perfectly cooked and brown, but they fall apart when transferring to cooling rack, if you’re not careful. These were OK, but I will not make them again.
These came out pretty good. I did end up adding an extra flour because the dough was very loose. I added an extra 1/4 cup of flour. I was not impresses with dough but after I let it sit in fridge for an hour and a half, it was much better. The cookies were very good.
Surprised by some negative reviews. I find this recipe to be one of the best! Comes out perfectly every time. I usually bake half a batch at a time, freezing the remaining dough. That way we don’t devour all the cookies!
Mad I wasted expensive bread flour and a 1/2 pound of butter on these. Everyone is talking about the texture(not good–and yes I chilled the dough and yes I used parchment paper). Surprised no one has mentioned how God-awful sweet they are. My husband said his was a little better after spreading peanut butter on it for some saltiness but still not worth it.
Not good. My husband and I both find these way too sweet. Dornafor all the fiddliness (melting butter, one egg one egg you’ll) these were immensely disappointing.
I have made these several times.My only difference was the time of baking.It says 15 minutes and for me it is 10.love how chewy they are every time!
I love a good home made chocolate chip cookie, don’t care much for any others. This is by far my favorite! The first time I tasted them at a friends, I could not stop eating them, I lost count of how many I ate. I have made them for my kids and co-workers and they all love them too. Many people ask for the recipe!, thanks for sharing it!
Alton’s recipe on the Food Network site calls for 8 ounces of butter (1/2 cup) NOT 1 cup, This may explain the problems some people have had.
Hi Cynthia, Actually 1 cup of butter is 8 ounces.
8oz of butter is 1 cup.
I have made these cookies numerous times now, always following the recipe to the letter, and they turn out perfectly every time. I made a double batch of dough and scooped out a few at a time over 3-4 days to always have warm cookies on demand. The longer the dough refrigerated, the more chewy and moist they became. I get loads of compliments when I bring them to events, and have steered several people to this site for the recipe. I will say that I probably make larger cookies than the recipe calls for, and keep them mounded, and they are seriously the best CC cookie I’ve had. Thanks for posting the conversion!!
Hands down the best chocolate chip cookies I have EVER made. After reading the comments of flat oily cookies from some people I beat the crap out of my butter and sugars and hand stirred in 1/4 c. flour after I added the chocolate chips. I then rolled them into ping pong sized balls and popped them in the freezer for 25 mins. I baked them for 12 minutes and they were perfect. Thank you for this recipe!
I’ve been using thisc recipe for quite a while now and never have my cookies come out too thin. Even when I don’t refrigerate the dough or bother to cool the melted butter. I wish the cookies would flatten out! Other than that, my family and I love this recipe.
This recipe was indeed quite chewy, but I had to reduce the cooking time from 15 minutes to 10. My first batch was way too well done (and my oven is usually dead on.)
10 minutes worked for me too. 10 or 11, but I prefer mine soft and chewy, and 10 was best for me, 11 would be good for those that like theirs a little more crunchy. 15 minutes they was over baked and burnt.