Perfect Original American Cookies Recipe. All the secrets.
This year, the food world craze, from after summer onwards, has been the American chocolate chip cookies (Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies), I was intrigued by their success and finally – after several unsatisfactory attempts – I found the definitive original recipe for real American chocolate chip cookies. These cookies are the best I’ve ever tried, they are truly irresistible: soft and chewy just like the American ones.
In truth, chewy literally translates to: “gummy,” but it seems almost a negative adjective; however, in this case, it means that these American cookies are crispy outside and velvety soft inside, they melt in your mouth.
I confess that the dough is so good, I almost finished it raw, the best chocolate chip cookies ever! Don’t look any further. I assure you this is the perfect recipe for American cookies, follow me step by step and you can’t go wrong.
I’ll reveal two essential secrets for the success of these cookies:
1) Once ready, the dough must stay in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, this way the cookies won’t flatten during baking;
2) The cookies should be formed not as balls, but as small towers, little barrels (see photo in the procedure) so they don’t flatten during baking and assume the shape of classic American cookies with slightly wrinkled and thick ridges.
They disappear in no time, one leads to another.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 40 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 13 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Seasonality: All seasons, Christmas
Ingredients for the American Cookies
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used Caputo blue)
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 3/4 cup butter (quality, melted and unsalted)
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar (light Demerara)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg (whole)
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- 1 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips (quality)
Tools
- Stand Mixer Kenwood with illuminated bowl and 1400 W power
- Parchment paper
- Baking sheet micro-perforated
Steps for the American Cookies
Melt the butter in a double boiler.
Eggs must be at room temperature.
Take a bowl and mix together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of the stand mixer (but you can also do everything by hand), with the paddle attachment, mix the previously cooled melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until there are no lumps (for a few minutes).
Add the whole egg and then the yolk and vanilla extract, then also add the dry ingredients mixture and continue mixing with the paddle attachment (or by hand). Finally, incorporate the chocolate chips, working the dough until they are well incorporated.
However, the dough should not be worked too long, it will take no more than 5 minutes in total, they should not incorporate too much air.
Form a ball, cover the dough well and let it cool in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours, preferably overnight. This is a fundamental step that cannot be skipped and a secret for the success of real American cookies.
Then remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it soften at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 340°F. Line a baking sheet (preferably micro-perforated) with parchment paper or micro-perforated silicone mats. Set aside.
Form balls of about 50 grams each and then roll them between your hands, developing them in height, forming almost cylinders (like towers or barrels) as in the photo below. This secret will prevent the cookies from flattening excessively during baking.
Place the cookies spaced apart on the previously prepared baking sheet (I put 12 spaced apart, see photo below).
With these amounts, you get about 12-13 cookies (I don’t like them too small) and put the baking sheet back in the fridge for about 10 minutes to stabilize the shape.I also tried making a double batch, making about 50 cookies: 34 cookies weighing about 30 grams each + 16 cookies weighing 50 grams of dough each.
Then bake the cookies in the oven for about 12-13 minutes, they should not bake too long otherwise they harden, they should be just slightly golden.
Don’t worry if, once out of the oven, the cookies seem very soft to you, because the cookies will continue to solidify as they cool. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. In the meantime, press a few more chocolate chips on top of the still warm cookies (they will look prettier). Always when they are still warm, with a teaspoon you can adjust them to highlight the ridges more (see photo below), finally wait for them to cool completely.
American cookies stay fresh for up to 10 days if stored at room temperature, in food bags or special cookie boxes.
Notes and Tips
If you need to bake multiple trays of cookies, NEVER place the cookies on hot trays, let the trays cool to room temperature first or use another cold tray.
They are ideal cookies to prepare between Christmas and Epiphany, also as DIY Christmas gifts or to put in the stocking for Epiphany, properly packaged, but they are so good that I make them very often throughout the year, it’s no coincidence that the recipe for these cookies is a true success, among the most viewed on my Blog!
Shopping Tips!!!
To knead perfectly and conveniently, I often also use my Kenwood planetary mixer Titanium Chef Patissier XL with illuminated 7L bowl, integrated scale and blender, and 1400 W power, a faithful ally in the kitchen for: kneading, weighing, whipping, melting chocolate, pasteurizing eggs.
If you are looking for a more economical and smaller planetary mixer model, you can safely choose to purchase Kenwood Titanium Chef Baker, with double bowl of 5L and 3.5L, 1200W power.
You can find both planetary mixers on Amazon, at a special price.
Cookies in general, bake perfectly on micro-perforated baking sheets covered by micro-perforated silicone mats.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Can American cookie dough be frozen?
After chilling the dough in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, shape the cookies like barrels (see procedure above). Place them separated on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and put them back in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This will set the shape of the cookies and prevent them from sticking together, then transfer cookies to a container or food bag, at this point, it doesn’t matter if they touch each other because the shape is set and put them in the freezer (they can last up to 3 months).
When you feel like it, take the cookies you want to eat out of the freezer and bake them directly frozen in a preheated oven at 340°F for about 15 minutes (it takes a few more minutes because they are frozen).
This way you’ll always have a reserve dessert, ready to be eaten, for sudden cravings for comfort food or last-minute guests.
