Alton Brown's Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Chewy.  This could be my favorite Alton Brown recipe.  I know it is my most requested.  The Good Eats episode had three versions of chocolate chip cookie recipes, but only this one made it into the Good Eats book.  For good reason, these cookies are superior than any I have ever baked, or even eaten.  These cookies could build an empire.

I like my cookies soft and chewy, so this is the recipe for me. The slightly browned crispy edges leading into warm, chewy, melt-in-your-mouth center is exactly what I want in a cookie, and the chewy delivers.  This recipe is also what caused me to buy a digital scale, and I now prefer measuring by weight instead of volume in all my recipes.

The dough also freezes incredibly well.  So much so, that when I make them, I usually freeze them for an hour instead of putting them in the refrigerator.  By freezing them, the cookies don't flatten out as much, and the middle is just a little bit gooier. 

 

To do this, just dish the dough out in cookie size portions and freeze on a baking sheet. Once the cookies are frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag for storage.  This way, you can have fresh baked cookies whenever you want them without doing all the work.  

 

 

The Chewy
An Alton Brown recipe

Ingredients
8 ounces unsalted butter
12 ounces bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 ounces granulated sugar
8 ounces light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 ounce whole milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat, then into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Next, add the whole egg, the egg yolk, milk and vanilla extract.  Continue to mix on slow until thoroughly combined.

Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda.  Slowly add the dry ingredients, until all the flour is worked in.  Lower the speed to "stir" and add the chocolate chips.

Scoop the dough into 1 1/2-ounce portions onto a parchment-lined half sheet pans and refrigerate for an hour.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Place 6 cookies per sheet and 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.

If not baking all the cookies, freeze the remaining cookie for later use following the same baking instructions.

The Chewy

We don't make chocolate chip cookies at our house; we make The Chewy. The Chewy is perhaps the most palette pleasing cookie of all time, and it's the only chocolate chip cookie recipe I use. No other recipe can compare. The Chewy is an Alton Brown recipe; and in the Good Eats episode in which it appears, Alton provides the viewers with three chocolate chip cookie variations depending on personal taste. The Thin, The Puffy, and The Chewy were all featured in the episode. He presented The Chewy last, and once I saw him make them, I knew this was the recipe I wanted to try.

I like my cookies soft and chewy, so this is the recipe for me. The slightly browned crispy edges leading into warm, chewy, melt-in-your-mouth center is exactly what I want in a cookie, and The Chewy delivers in all respects. I have taken The Chewy to many work and family functions and they have always been a huge hit. I don't know how many times I've printed the recipe for other people.

When making The Chewy just to enjoy at home, instead of baking them all at once, I bake them in batches of six and freeze the rest of the dough. I use a disher to scoop the dough out in cookie size portions and freeze in plastic wrap in batches of six. That way, I can have fresh baked cookies whenever I want them without doing all the work. Though they keep fresh several days after baking, there is nothing like a cookie fresh from the oven.

Also, there is no reason to only limit The Chewy to chocolate chips. I have made them with crushed Heath bars and M&Ms. Angela really enjoys adding a few Reese's Big Cups to the batter. I have also added some of my homemade peanut butter to the mix, but that made them a little too rich for my liking. The Chewy has been a staple at our household for several years, and if you're looking for something to take to that Memorial Day cookout you may be going to, The Chewy will not disappoint.

Speaking of Memorial Day, I hope you all have a safe and wonderful holiday weekend! I'm looking forward to a leisurely three days off with a couple of cookouts and volleyball highlighting the agenda. I'm hoping to squeeze in a nice bike ride, too. It's shaping up to be a nice weekend in our neck of the woods.

More Alton

After I posted about Alton Brown yesterday, I stumbled upon a blog called All About Alton Brown. It is a wonderful site created by a devoted fan, check it out if you can. As I was scrolling down the page, I noticed a cool picture with a caption that read "AB's new cookbook available in October!" I excitedly clicked on the picture and it took me to a page that described the new book. Here is what it said:

Alton Brown is a foodie phenomenon: a great cook, a very funny guy, and—underneath it all—a science geek who’s as interested in the chemistry of cooking as he is in eating. (Well, almost.) Here, finally, are the books that Brown’s legion of fans have been salivating for—two volumes that together will provide an unexpurgated record of his long-running, award-winning Food Network TV series, Good Eats.
From “Pork Fiction” (on baby back ribs), to “Citizen Cane” (on caramel sauce), to “Oat Cuisine” (on oatmeal), every hilarious episode is represented. Each book—the second will be published in fall 2010—is illustrated with behind-the-scenes photos taken on the Good Eats set. Each contains more than 140 recipes and more than 1,000 photographs and illustrations, along with explanations of techniques, lots of food-science information (of course!), and more food puns, food jokes, and food trivia than you can shake a wooden spoon at.

I can hardly wait! I use my other Alton cookbooks all the time! I know what some of you may be thinking; why do I need the book if I can just go to foodnetwork.com and get all the recipes I want for free. I'll tell you. It's not because of the behind-the-scenes photos, or just so I can add it to my collection. If this cookbook presents the recipes in the same format as the others, giving the weight as well as the volume of the ingredients, I will be thrilled.

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Because of Alton Brown I like to measure my ingredients (such as flour) by weight instead of by volume because it provides a more accurate result. Most of the recipes on foodnetwork.com only show the volume, and it is important to be as exact as possible, especially when baking. Just think, this new book could take The Chewy to a whole new level.