The Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

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From The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. What better way to test a cookbook than with something we all know and love? This cookie passed with flying colors with a small group of women devouring a large plate of cookies one evening ... and our family didn't turn any down either. Personally, I prefer a little more depth of flavor to my cookies and probably will continue using my current favorite recipe from Cookies Unlimited.

Rose used a bag of them to thank one of Hannah's friends who had lent her a textbook in an hour of need. He had heard of Rose's cookie baking fame before. "I can't believe I now hold a 'Rose' cookie in my hands," he said, beaming. That was right before a horde of friends descended on the cookies...

Rose's comment? She couldn't believe there were only three steps. "And two of those are pre-heating the oven and baking the cookies!"

The strange ingredient in these is the vinegar which the KA people say tempers the sweetness of the sugar and reacts with the baking soda to give the cookies extra lift ... I didn't notice much effect and might try this again without the vinegar and baking soda to see just what difference there actually is.

Yield: 4 dozen cookies
Baking temperature: 375° F
Baking time: 10 minutes

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks, 6 ounces) unsalted butter
2/3 cup (5-1/4 ounces) dark brown sugar
2/3 cup (4-3/4 ounces) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons (1-1/4 ounces) light corn syrup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar or white vinegar
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2-1/4 cups (9-1/2 ounces) unbleached, all-purpose flour
3 cups (18 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugars, corn syrup, and vinegar, then beat in the eggs. Beat in the vanilla, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir in the flour and chocolate chips.

Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, until they're just set; the centers may still look a bit underdone. Remove them from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool.

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