Break 'n Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies

Now that I’m on break and safely at home in my well-stocked kitchen, I plan to bake up a storm. Hence the break, and the bake. None of that Tollhouse nonsense for me! (It’s super handy to use in college, though, I must say…)

As I’ve mentioned before, I am on a mission to find the best chocolate chip cookie. Yes, I am aware that everyone else is, too. But I love chocolate chip cookies, probably more than any other kind of cookie. And when I say I love chocolate chip cookies, I mostly mean that I love the dough. I may die of salmonella, but I’ll die happy!

Luckily my little brother is also enamored of these morsels of goodness, so I frequently make them for him to share with his friends or consume all on his own (he’s 13 and growing like a damn weed. He’s officially taller than me. It’s rather upsetting. But that’s a post for another time…). So when in doubt, I always bake chocolate chip.

Today’s victim was “The Chewy”. I distinctly remember watching that episode of Good Eats and falling just a little bit in love with Alton Brown (try this and this if you want to watch it online). His scientific explanations called to the nerd in me (not that she’s very well hidden) and I loved knowing exactly why each cookie ended up the way it did. Also, everyone and their mother has made this chocolate chip cookie. And for good reason.

It’s DELICIOUS. I can’t decide if it’s my favorite yet, but it’s definitely up there. It’s delightfully chewy (of course) and has a perfectly balanced flavor. While it does use bread flour, the rest of the ingredients aren’t quite as esoteric or difficult to deal with as those in, say, the NYT recipe (which is probably my favorite thus far, anyways).

I’m also lazy, so I’m going to just direct you to the website where I found the recipe. Only changes I made were making the cookies smaller and baking them for less time (story of my life).

So make these. Love them. Share them. Let others love them. And continue spreading the love. And forget the break-n-bake.