If you know how to make standard chewy chocolate chip cookies, you can make just about any type of cookies. What I love about cookie dough is that it is so versatile. You can practically add any of your favourite mix-ins that will add a whole extra depth of flavour to the cookies and they will still taste amazing. You can add your favourite type of chocolate, candy, toffee, sprinkles...the list goes on. Click HERE for a link to my standard but delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe.
I always see bloggers posting one standard cookie recipe, adding a different mix in like cranberries as oppose to chocolate chips and calling it an entirely different name. You don't need 50 cookie recipes to add a different type of candy, chocolate or dried fruit to your recipe. You really just need one recipe. So, i'm going to use my standard cookie recipe, divide the dough into four and add four different mix-ins.
1. The first most important thing to do is put half a cup of butter out to bring it to room temperature.
Don't skip this step. You cannot melt the butter and expect it to be soft and chewy. If you melt your butter, the cookies will be very crispy and in some cases, cakey. You want a chewy cookie. So make sure you leave your butter out until it's soft to the touch. You can also use margarine in which case you don't need to let it get to room temperature. But it tastes better with real butter. Plus real butter is healthier for you than margarine.
2. Use dark brown sugar.
You need to use dark brown sugar. Period. Golden sugar will make your cookies cakey and cane sugar will not work. Many people want to substitute cane sugar for brown sugar but brown sugar and cane sugar are not the same thing. Cane sugar is raw and less processed and will take forever to melt. Brown sugar on the other hand is just processed white granulated sugar with molasses added to it. But the molasses is crucial since it adds so much moisture and helps give your cookies that soft gooey texture. So measure out 2/3 cup of dark brown sugar and we'll go to the next step.
3. You also need a bit of white sugar.
White sugar helps give the cookies some shape and makes it a little crispy around the edges. If you omit white sugar, you'll have a gloopy mess. Measure out 1/3 cup.
4. Cream your butter and sugars.
Make sure to cream the butter and sugars by hand or using a mixer before adding any other ingredient. This is the base for cookies and probably the most important step. I normally do this by hand.
5. One room temperature egg is needed.
A room temperature egg is very important because it allows all the ingredients to be more well-combined. I've tried both ways by using a cold egg vs a room temperature egg and I got much better results. So leave your egg and butter out at the same time just so you don't forget to do it later. If you do forget just place the egg in a bowl of very warm water for 15-20 minutes. I normally crack the egg in a separate bowl in case I get a bad egg. I also add 1 tsp of vanilla directly to the egg since it gets rid of any raw egg taste in your cookie dough. Add your egg and vanilla to the creamed butter and sugars.
6. Measure out your flour properly.
You need 1 and 1/3 cups of flour for this. It's important to either loosen your flour before scooping a cup or measure your flour by adding a tablespoon at a time to your measuring cup and leveling it. That's actually the correct way to measure flour and ensures you don't add too much flour to the dough. You want soft cookies not hockey pucks.
7. Add the flour to the butter mixture.
Do this slowly and try not to mix the dough for too long otherwise you'll develop the gluten and get a harder cookie rather than a chewy one.
8. Add the mix-ins!
Honestly, this is the best step! I normally add 1 cup of chocolate chips, but because i've divided the dough into four, I am adding 1/4 cup of my mix-ins per dough. I added semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, Reese's pieces and M&M's. Yes, I am a huge fan of candy. You could also add dried fruit, toffee, caramel, sprinkles...whatever you like, just go for it!
9. Chill, Bake, Enjoy.
I normally refrigerate the dough in the time the oven is preheating. This takes like 10 minutes. Sometimes I refrigerate it longer. Though it's not a very important step. It just makes the cookies a little less flat. But, I bypass this step all the time. Spread parchment paper on your baking sheet or butter or cooking spray just so the cookies don't stick. I normally measure out the dough with an ice cream scoop and roll the cookies into balls to get a perfect circle. I then bake them at 350 degrees celsius and place them on convection. This takes between 12-15 minutes.
Recipe
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook time: 14 mins
Servings: 16
Ingredients
1/2 Cup unsalted butter (110g)
2/3 Cup Brown Sugar (130g)
1/3 Cup White Sugar (65g)
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2/3 Cup All Purpose Flour (210g)
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup of your favourite mix-ins
Directions
In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and pale in colour.
Add the egg and vanilla extract.
Mix together the flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.
Slowly fold the dry ingredients to the wet until just combined, DO NOT overmix,
Add in your favourite mix-ins.
Chill the dough for 10-30 mins before baking.
Roll the dough into about 12-16 balls and place on a lined or greased baking sheet.
Bake the cookies on convection at 350 F for 12-14 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Allow to cool for 5-10 mins. Enjoy.
Let me know if you tried it or feel free to leave a tip in the comments below!