Original Perfect American Cookies Recipe. All the Secrets
This year the food world sensation has been the recipe for American chocolate chip cookies (Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies), I was intrigued by so much success and finally – after several trials that didn’t completely satisfy me – I found the definitive original recipe for true American chocolate chip cookies, these cookies are the best I’ve ever tried, truly irresistible: soft and chewy like the American ones.
In reality, chewy literally translates to: “rubbery”, but it almost sounds like a negative adjective, instead in this case, it means that these American cookies are crispy outside and with a velvety softness inside, they melt in your mouth.
I confess that the dough for these Christmas treats is so good that 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, you can’t go wrong.
My homemade American cookies are delicious all year round, but they are also ideal as a heartfelt homemade Christmas gift.
As I mentioned above, they are homemade cookies, ideal to prepare between Christmas and Epiphany, also as Christmas cookies for DIY Christmas gifts or to tuck into the Epiphany stocking, properly packaged, but they are so good that I prepare them frequently throughout the year.
My recipe for American cookies is a real success, absolutely among the most viewed on my Blog!
I’ll share two of my unmissable secrets for the success of these cookies:
1) Once ready, the dough must rest in the fridge for at least 3 hours, so the cookies won’t flatten during baking;
2) The cookies must be shaped not as balls, but as small towers or barrels (see photo below in the procedure) to prevent flattening and achieve the classic American cookie shape with slightly rough and thick grooves.
They disappear in a flash, one leads to another.
If you’re looking for (sweet or savory) cookie recipes, click on my Special.
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Affordable
- Rest time: 40 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 13 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Seasonality: All Seasons, Christmas
Ingredients for the Original Perfect American Cookies
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I use Caputo blue)
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 3/4 cup butter (quality, melted and unsalted)
- 3/4 cup 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 1/3 cups dark chocolate chips (quality)
Tools
- Stand Mixer Kenwood with illuminated bowl and 1400 W power
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Sheet non-stick perforated
Steps for the American Cookies
Melt the butter in a saucepan over a double boiler.
The eggs should be at room temperature.
Take a bowl and mix the dry ingredients together: 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, combine the cooled melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until there are no lumps (mix for a few minutes).
Then add the whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, then add the dry ingredient mixture and continue mixing with the paddle (or by hand).
Finally, fold in the chocolate chips, working the dough until they are well incorporated.The dough, however, should not be worked too long, it should take a maximum of 5 minutes, it should not incorporate too much air.
Form a ball, cover the dough well, and chill in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours, even better if overnight. This is a crucial step that cannot be skipped and a secret for the success of true American cookies.
Then remove the dough from the fridge and let it soften at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 338°F.
Take a rectangular baking sheet (preferably perforated) about 15.35×10.63 inches and line it with parchment paper (or with a perforated silicone mat).Form balls of about 50 g each and then roll them between your hands shaping them into small cylinders (like towers or barrels) as in the photo below, this secret will prevent the cookies from flattening too much while baking.
Place the cookies, spaced apart, on the prepared baking sheet (I placed 12, spaced, see photo below).
The true secret for perfect American cookies: the barrel shape!
Put the baking sheet back in the fridge for about 10 minutes, to stabilize the shape.
Finally, bake the cookies in the oven for about 12-13 minutes, they should not bake too much or they will harden, they should be just slightly golden.
Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the sheet for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, press some extra chocolate chips on top of the cookies while still warm (they will look prettier).
Also, when the cookies are still warm, with a teaspoon you can adjust them by emphasizing the grooves (see photo below)
Finally, wait until they are completely cooled, the day after they are even better and crisper.
So you can prepare the cookies in advance.
Do not worry if, once out of the oven, the cookies seem very soft, as the cookies will continue to solidify as they cool.
The American cookies will stay fresh and crispy for up to 10 days at room temperature, in food bags or special cookie boxes.
Notes and Tips
These measurements yield about 12-15 cookies (I don’t like them too small).
With a double batch, you get about 50 cookies: 34 cookies of about 30 g each + 16 cookies of 50 g of dough each.
If you need to bake multiple trays of cookies, NEVER place the cookies on hot trays, let them cool to room temperature first (or use another cold tray).
Shopping Tips!!!
To knead perfectly and with ease, I often use my Kenwood Titanium Chef Patissier XL stand mixer with illuminated 7L bowl, integrated scale, and blender, with a whopping 1400 W power, a faithful kitchen ally for: kneading, weighing, whipping, melting chocolate, and pasteurizing eggs.
If you’re looking for a more economical and smaller stand mixer model, you can safely choose to buy Kenwood Titanium Chef Baker, with dual bowls of 5L and 3.5L, 1200W power.
You can find both stand mixers on Amazon, at a special price.
Cookies in general bake perfectly on perforated baking sheets covered with perforated silicone mats.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Can you freeze the American cookie dough?
After cooling the dough in the fridge for at least 3 hours, shape the cookies as barrels (see procedure above). Place them separated on a parchment-lined tray and place them back in the fridge for 1 hour. This will fix the shape of the cookies and prevent them from sticking together, then transfer the cookies into a container or a food bag, at this point, it doesn’t matter if they touch each other because the shape is already fixed and place them in the freezer (they can last up to 3 months).
When you want, take the cookies you want to eat from the freezer and cook them directly from frozen in a preheated oven at 338°F for about 15 minutes (it takes a few more minutes because they are frozen).
This way, you’ll always have a backup dessert, ready to be eaten, for sudden cravings for comfort food or last-minute guests.
