It’s time to start planning those cookies you’re going to make for the annual family holiday celebration or cookie exchanges you participate in. While there are a lot of great recipes out there for the holidays, sometimes nothing beats anything a classic gooey chocolate chip cookie. Sure, they’re not as pretty as all of those highly decorated cookies, but they’ll get snapped up a lot quicker.
What we love about chocolate chip cookies? They’re a classic recipe and you can make the dough ahead and even freeze it for later. This is a great recipe to make ahead of time and just bake before you need it! You can use this recipe year round but we’re pretty sure Santa loves these with his milk!
A few tips for you before you start.
- Make sure you cream together the butter and sugar well. It should be light and fluffy. This can take several minutes to happen, even with a stand mixer, but it is essential to the end result. Start with room temperature butter for best results. Then combine the sugars and butter on low speed for a minute, and after it is incorporated increase the speed to medium-high. Scrape down the bowl every minute or so to ensure that the butter and sugar is creaming evenly. When you scrape down the sides after a minute or two, it will be very heavy and resemble wet cement, or really dense sand. You aren’t done yet! Keep going until the mixture has lightened in color and in texture. This can take up to 4-5 minutes, even with a stand mixer!
- Test your oven temperature every few months, and make accommodations accordingly. Cookies are best when baked at 325, and just until the edges are light golden brown. The middle will still be a bit soft, but they will set up during cooling.
- Chill the dough for a full 4 hours before baking. This helps keep them from flattening out too much during baking.
- Get some parchment paper for baking. It makes cookies go so much faster! No need to grease a pan, and the cookies are perfect every time.
Ingredients:
- 3 sticks butter
- 2 1/2 c packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 c white sugar
- 2 lg eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 1/2 Tbsp vanilla
- 4 c gluten free all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 c milk chocolate chips
Directions:
- Cream butter and sugars in a stand mixer until light, fluffy, and creamy, about 4-5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix.
- Sift together all dry ingredients and slowly add to the batter mixing on low while doing so. When well combined, mix in chocolate chips.
- Put all cookie dough into fridge for at least 4 hours. 24 is better, but 4 will do in a pinch.
- Take out and roll lightly into 1″ balls, place on a cookie sheet lined with non-stick foil, bake at 325 for 10-13 minutes. Take out when the outside edges are JUST starting to brown for a softer, chewier cookie. Leave in another minute or so if you like them a bit crunchier.