Quest for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

With the kids that I work with at school, they have a reward system for good behavior. One of the prizes they can earn is a plate of cookies made by me. So far, that has been the choice prize of the Eighth Grade Class. I've now baked three plates of cookies for these kids. I told them they could choose whatever kind of cookies they want, and I'd bake them.

Two out the three who have earned a plate of cookies so far have requested chocolate chip. As I was mixing up the first batch about a week ago, it dawned on me that I have never actually made chocolate chip cookies before! Because of this, I didn't really have a go-to recipe, so I just went with the recipe on the back of the bag of chocolate chips. Trial by fire!

As soon as I took the first tray out of the oven, I knew this was not the right recipe.

They're flat, overly crispy, came out with holes in the middle, and stuck to the pan horribly. Something was wrong. I looked over the recipe again and discovered down at the bottom in teeny tiny print the adjustments for high altitude, and for leaving out the walnuts that the recipe calls for. Oops!

I picked out twelve or so of the least-offensive looking cookies and wrapped them up on a plate for the student, explaining that it was actually my first time making chocolate chip cookies. She didn't seem to broken up-- I think she was just happy for some free food!

Even though I was disappointed with my novice chocolate chip cookie attempt, Jeff encouraged me to keep practicing. He graciously offered to taste-test as many trial batches of cookies I thought were required until I found the right recipe. He even helped eat a few of that first ill-fated batch, you know, because we can't give away the broken ones. He pointed out that they still tasted fine, and the texture was not offensive when dipped into a warm mug of coffee.

This weekend, I tried again, using the same recipe on this time making the high altitude and no-nuts adjustments. The result was a much better cookie, aesthetically.

This time, they held together way better, didn't stick to the pan at all, and were a little softer. I'm much happier with presenting these cookies to the world, or at least to another Eighth Grader. Jeff tasted them and said they were fine, but that I could continue to do some research if I wanted to, and he'd continue to make the great sacrifice of trying sample after sample.

Even though I like how these ones turned out better than the first batch, they're still not the perfect chocolate chip cookies I have in my mind. When I think about the best-ever chocolate chip cookies I've eaten in the past, I think about a cookie that's softer still than these, and lighter in color, smoother in texture. I think of my Grandma Adam's chocolate chip cookies, and I also think of the chocolate chip cookies from Cookies, Etc. in North Grand Mall in Ames, IA. Those are my standards.

Grandma's cookies are the chocolate chip cookie of my childhood. She used to always have some in the freezer, it seemed, and we could just grab one whenever. I remember them best as a frozen delight eaten right out of the tupperware. How did she get them all uniformly the same size? What did she do to make them taste so good? Mysteries I must get to the bottom of.

And Cookies, Etc. Oh, man, did I have A LOT of their cookies back in my college days when I worked at the mall. It was a standard on my fifteen minute break to walk over and buy a cookie. The chocolate chips were best, of course, when they were freshly baked. They were moist and delicious and had something different about them that I couldn't place for a long time, but now I wonder if it was almond flour, perhaps? I don't know. I see on their website that they will ship, so I may have to place an order. You know, for research purposes of course. I wonder if Jeff's taste-testing offer would extend to cookies not made by me?

In my first two attempts, I haven't come close yet to either of my two golden standards. But, I'm willing to put in the hard effort and repetitive task of trying recipe after recipe until I get it right. I'm sure Jeff won't mind, either. One thing I have learned so far is that at about 3500 feet, I am at just enough of an altitude to require adjustments to flour and other ingredients for a more successful cookie.

In order to find the most perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, I'm willing to do what must be done. Practice and research must be performed. The right tools must be used. But first, I need a few more different recipes to try. If anyone has a favorite that they're willing to share, please send it my way! Likewise any tips, tricks, favorite brands of baking products, or family cookie-baking secrets. I'll take it all!

Stay tuned for further developments as the Quest for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe continues!