Best Ever Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Last year I worked at a bakery in California. While I was there I baked a LOT of chocolate chip cookies. The recipe was so good I took it with me to adapt for home use. It's still in grams, which is tricky if you don't have a scale, but I think it's faster to bake with a scale than with cups and spoons so I keep forgetting to convert it. Maybe someday. 

The recipe is pretty standard, with nearly equal parts brown sugar, white sugar, and butter and the usual eggs, flour, leavening, vanilla and chocolate. The most different thing about this recipe is the method. This is a recipe best suited for a stand mixer, and fits easily in a 5 quart mixer bowl (rather than the 60 quart bowl the original recipe requires!)

The method makes a cookie that's crisp on the edge, soft and chewy in the middle, with gooey chocolate chunks in every bite. The chocolate really makes the cookie, so use the nicest you have. My favorites are the dark bar from Trader Joe's or Guittard buttons, either the Lever du Soleil 61% or the French Vanilla. 

 This recipe works best when it's followed exactly. I often just kind of throw things together, but not these. They're the best chocolate chip cookies you'll ever make.

RECIPE

Makes 5 dozen 3 inch cookies

284 g butter, softened but not melty

284 g brown sugar

228 g sugar

6 g baking soda

6 g baking powder

9 g salt

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

500 g chopped chocolate

480 g all-purpose flour

Combine butter and sugar. Beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl and beat another minute. 

Add baking soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla.  Beat until combined. 

Add eggs, mix until combined. 

Scrape and beat for 10 minutes. Yep, 10 minutes at a medium speed. 

Add chocolate and mix until equally distributed. 

Add half the flour, mix until just combined. Stop and scrape down the bowl. Repeat with the other half of the flour. 

Scoop onto a cookie sheet with a #40 scoop, or form balls of dough about 1 1/4" in diameter. I scoop all the cookies at once since they bake best cold. I then throw the cookies in the freezer for about 15 minutes while the oven preheats. 

[At this point you can freeze some of the dough solid to bake later, since 5 dozen is a lot of cookies. When you want to bake them, let the cookies sit overnight in the fridge and continue as below.]

Arrange cookies on a lightly greased cookie sheet, 12 to a half-sheet pan or 8 to a jelly-roll size pan. Bake 8-11 minutes, or until the edges just start to turn golden. 

Let cool for a few minutes on the pan, then remove to a rack to cool. 

Store in an airtight container for... I'm not sure how long they should last, they've never lasted more than 3 days in my house.