The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe: Baking Playdate

I wanted to plan a fun playdate for Theodora and her cousins, Lydia (5) and Sawyer (2). Something hands on but not too overwhelming for them, being that they’re still so young, or for us, the parents.

I love to bake but wasn’t sure if the littles would find the activity genuinely fun.

I’m reporting that our baking play date was a success! We made my favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe: soft and chewy on the inside with a crisp edge on the outside. I like to try recipe after recipe until I find one that’s a keeper. I found this recipe nearly a decade ago and it’s still my favorite go to chocolate chip cookie.

Theodora insisted on wearing her ballet outfit she wears for dance class, leotards and skirt, included. We just went with it.

I had picked up little white aprons for them and they thought they were pretty official putting them on.

You can find them on Amazon.

Before everyone arrived, I measured out each ingredient and lined two baking pans with parchment paper so that everything was ready to go. It made it easier and the kids loved getting to take turns pouring the ingredients into the mixer. I’d recomme… — Before everyone arrived, I measured out each ingredient and lined two baking pans with parchment paper so that everything was ready to go. It made it easier and the kids loved getting to take turns pouring the ingredients into the mixer. I’d recommend having everything set if you’re working with littles for the most stress free experience.

Okay. Onto the recipe.

I will include my baker’s notes in (brackets and italics) to share the exact modifications I make when baking mine.

Some iPhone snaps my sister in law took. I usually take more photos of the baked good step-by-step and the finished result but this go around was too busy to stop and snap.

I’m voting Sawyer as the cutest baker in the kitchen. He was so interested and wanted to be in on every step. He also was the best sport and picked the most functional size-to-rolling-ability rolling pin of the bunch.

Crisp and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies | Martha Stewart

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened but still cool to the touch
1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar (I use dark brown sugar or light, whatever I have on hand and really pack it in)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt (I personally use regular salt, I find the kosher salt a bit much)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled (this just means to spoon the flour into the measuring cup a bit at a time until it’s full and then level off the excess instead of dunking your whole measuring cup into your flour bag or dish. Sometimes it can pack down the flour and you actually get more than you intend. Spooning it in is said to be more accurate.)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I use about 1.5 cups)
5 ounces semisweet chocolate (61 to 66 percent), coarsely chopped (1 1/4 cups), plus more large, flat pieces or semisweet chocolate féves for tops (optional) (I leave this out! Too much muss and fuss for the everyday but would be a decadent treat.)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°F (I actually wait to turn my oven on until the last step when I place my batter into the refrigerator). Beat butter with both sugars, baking powder, baking soda, and salt on medium-high speed until light and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating to combine after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Stop beating and add flour (don’t add the flour to your mixer all at once, add small bits at a time to avoid it getting everywhere…speaking from experience HAH), then beat on low to combine. Add both chocolates and beat to combine (I actually just use a rubber spatula for this step to avoid my chocolate breaking up). If you are working in a warm room and/or dough feels sticky or soft, refrigerate about 15 minutes before scooping and baking. (**I always place my dough in the refrigerator for at least 15-30 minutes before baking. If you take it out and it’s too hard to work with you can leave it on the counter until it’s ready but too cold is better than too soft.)
Using a 2-ounce (1/4-cup) scoop, drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart (6 cookies per sheet); press each down to flatten slightly.
Top each cookie with a few large, flat pieces of chopped chocolate or whole féves (if desired) (I leave this step out but if time allows it would be delicious!). Bake one sheet of cookies 9 minutes; remove from oven and bang sheet on stove top or counter to deflate. Return to oven and bake 3 minutes; remove and bang again, then return to oven and bake until golden around edges and just barely set in centers, about 3 minutes more. (I don’t always do this step, sometimes I leave them in, eyeball to see how they are doing and just rotate my pan half way through.)
Transfer sheet to a wire rack and let cool 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a rack with a spatula; let cool completely. Repeat with remaining sheets, one at a time. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days, or frozen up to 2 months.