Rich, ooey and gooey, with crisped edges, these Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies come together in just about an hour and contain layer upon layer of flavor in the dough.

With any endeavor, patience is typically a virtue. An artist spends hours upon hours in learning the different styles and techniques to channel that knowledge and repetition into their own beautiful pieces. The storyteller is precise in the verbiage chosen in each character’s narrative, allowing for edit after re-edit to make this other realm accessible to each reader. Classical singers spend hours upon hours on vocalises, scales, and vowel shapes in attempting to master their craft. The great artists in the culinary world certainly do the same for their inventive creations and techniques applied. The intense, methodical, and persistent, at times laborious work pays off in the end with spectacular results.

For myself, I adore and appreciate the fruitfulness of such dedication and time it takes to achieve such astounding results, like the excruciatingly long wait time for the perfect puff pasty dough to chill between each fold to ensure cold butter to produce delicate, flaky confections. However, my natural instinct leans towards that of impatience. The instant gratification of a quick fix, but so often leaving a slightly hollow feeling when I failed to take the time to create the results I was truly looking for. The first year after my diagnosis was brutally difficult in the fact I had to learn patience with myself, with time, and with the damaged nerves in my eyes to try and settle down from the inflammation of the Optic Neuritis attacks. I wanted the vision to be settled to what I would be left with, immediately, so I could adjust to it and avoid much of the frustration of fluctuating vision. As that is not how the body works in recovery after an attack from NMO, I had to adjust my mindset in accepting I needed to be patient about what was happening in my own body.

Ultra thick, these Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies contain a couple secret weapons to make them incredibly flavorful.

In the aspects of life I could control however, I started looking for ways to create incredible flavor and texture in foods I loved but could contain a bit of a time lapse between the beginning of the cooking/baking process and the finished product. One of such foods, for myself, was figuring out how to create an incredibly nuanced, delicately thick and chewy, gooey Chocolate Chip Cookie that had slightly crisped edges. My all time favorite cookie is this Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie, because it sits overnight (it is BEST when you allow it a full 72 hours) before baking, because the dough matures and has depths of caramel tones and deliciousness I have not tasted in a regular scoop and drop Chocolate Chip Cookie. However, my impatient side came into play one day when my hubs had eaten the last of my cookie stash and not alerted me.

Beautiful, intensely satisfying, and perfect with a cup of coffee, these Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies come together quickly.

Forlorn and cookieless, I vowed to come up with a recipe for a scoop and drop cookie that was going to contain everything I was looking for in my favorite cookies, without the long wait time. I tried a very popular recipe that first night I found myself with empty hands and a full glass of milk, and I hated it. Yes, the recipe was quick to put together and bake, but there was a wait time after removing them from the oven to allow the cookies to set because they are so underbaked. It was tepid, bland, and just overall a learning experience for myself in what NOT to do when baking.

So through trial and error, developing these cookies in the process because hello, peanut butter, I love you, I came up with the perfect solution for those days you want insanely delicious, soft, ooey-gooey centers with crisped edges Chocolate Chip Cookies that contain layers upon layers of decadent and rich flavor. First, you use butter to impart that uniquely rich flavor into the cookie dough, but you up the ante by browning it until it is good and nutty. Then, you use a brown sugar to add delicious caramel notes to the baked cookie. A little bit of good vanilla extract lightly perfumes the dough without being overwhelming, and then the secret weapon to add depths to the nutty brown butter and chocolate and caramel notes is…espresso powder! You can use 1/8 Tsp if you are craving just a whiff of it in there, but I prefer to use the full 1/4 Tsp as it adds an insanely delicious note to the dough that complements the chocolate chips.

I use a mix of both Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped, and Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips to create even more depths of flavor within the cookie.

These Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies are the answer to my cookieless hands in the middle of the night. Literally the closest thing to instant gratification you can get for home bbaked Chocolate Chip Cookies, the slightly crisped edges give way to a soft, gooey center. The cookie dough itself is full of flavor, and the sprinkle of flaky salt just accentuates and heightens all of the other flavors present - the caramel tones, the nuttiness from the brown butter, and the deliciousness of two types of chocolate with the wisp of coffee laying down in the undertones of the cookie dough. Problem solving for the time waiting for the dough to mature for my other cookies if my husband has sneakily finished them again in the future.

Topped with Flakey Salt, these Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies are definitely bakery worthy, and easily baked at home.

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Author: Iris Anna Gohn

Servings: 22 to 24 cookies

From start to finish, these cookies take just about an hour to assemble and bake. The cookies puff up just a bit higher if you use room temperature eggs, but they still end up pretty thick if you forget to take them out of the fridge before assembling the cookies.

The cornstarch helps the cookies remain nice and soft, as you are essentially creating a modified cake flour. The first day the cookies are baked, the edges are nice and crisped. As time goes by, however, they soften ever so slightly.

If you are not fond of coffee, I suggest using just 1/8 of a teaspoon in the cookie dough rather than the full 1/4 teaspoon the recipe calls for. It does add depths to the cookie dough the browned butter alone doesn’t.

Lastly, I think if you want to go a bit fancy, substitute some Cocoa Nibs for the Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips I call for in this recipe. It would make for a great, sophisticated cookie to serve. Get creative with your add ins - if you are not allergic to Tree Nuts like I am, I bet toasted Hazelnuts would pair beautifully with the Cocoa Nibs.

Ingredients

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/4 Tsp Espresso Powder (I use this brand)
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
2 Tbsp Cornstarch
1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
2/3 Cup Salted Browned Butter (I use Costco brand of Salted Butter)
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Granulated White Sugar
2 Eggs, room temperature
1 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I use Ghirardelli brand)
1/4 Cup Finely Chopped Bittersweet Chocolate Chips (I use Ghirardelli brand)
Flake Sea Salt, for sprinkling (or Coarse Kosher Salt)

Directions

In a small skillet or saucepan, brown the butter over medium heat. This will take 5-10 minutes, depending on how hot the stovetop gets. The butter will melt, foam white vigorously without boiling, and start to smell rounded and nutty. I like to brown mine till it gets almost to the overbrowned stage-extra toasty smelling and a very deep caramel color. Take off heat and let cool till dipping your pinky in it feels no heat.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, espresso powder, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the white sugar, brown sugar, and browned butter for 3 to 4 minutes on medium high speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary. The mixture should be the viscosity of honey.
On medium low speed, add in the vanilla and then the eggs, one at a time. Add the second egg in only after the first has been incorporated, roughly one minute per egg. Then turn the speed to medium high and incorporate air into the mixture for 2 minutes. It will have the viscosity of corn syrup.
Turn the mixer down to low and add in the dry ingredients. Mix until the dough just about comes together, roughly 1 to 2 minutes, then add in the semisweet and bittersweet chocolate chips. Mix until chocolate is incorporated, roughly 1 minute.
Scoop 1 Tbsp rounds of cookie dough out and space 6 cookies evenly on each prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the cookie dough with flake sea salt.
Bake on the 2 upper racks of the oven for 10 to 11 minutes, rotating the trays halfway to ensure even browning. Cookies will feel dry to the touch but very soft and under done-take them out! Trust me, they're baked through!
Bang the tray 3 to 4 times on top of the stove to help the cookie settle. Let cool on the hot pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.