Softest Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Recipe Found on:  www.momsweeklyrecipe.com

I have tried a lot of fancy cookie recipes.  I have chopped, melted, crushed caramel, pretzels, etc. and they have been good. But hey, sometimes you just want to make some simple cookies that the kids can help with AND that taste like a dream come true.  Here they are!

A couple “secret” ingredients turns these into the most perfect chocolate chip cookie ever–nice and fat, but not “cakey” and dry like margarine will make them.   How? What? Cream cheese. You won’t taste it, but you will taste the results…delicious!  You will use it in place of about half your butter.  And cornstarch, to help make them soft.

You want some right now don’t you???  Yum…

Let’s get baking!

This recipe yields 24 nice sized cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup (usually one stick) of butter, softened

1/4 Cup of Cream Cheese (regular or light will work–just do not use fat free or whipped)

1/4 Cup Sugar

3/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Egg

2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

2 tsp. cornstarch

2 1/4 Cup Flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 1/4 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Combine the butter, cream cheese, sugars, egg and vanilla in your mixer.  Beat until well creamed, I used the medium setting for 5 minutes on my stand mixer.  The hand mixer might take a couple minutes longer.

Now add your flour, baking soda, corn starch, and salt and continue mixing until all ingredients are mixed in.

Add you chocolate chips and mix them in so they are evenly distributed throughout your dough.

Grease your cookie pan, I like a bit of olive oil spray, and place large piles (a cookie scoop or small ice cream scoop works great here).  Then flatten slightly with the back of your scoop or spoon.  These cookies will NOT spread or flatten much so you want to give them a little help.  Here are some pictures of my dough pre-cooked.

 

I have heard the suggestion to place the ready to bake cookies in the fridge for a few hours to keep them nice and fat and soft, but who has that kind of time–especially with anxious kid helpers?  At our house, we put the first pan in the freezer while we make the second and then switch them out.  I suggest 15-20 minutes in the freezer while your oven preheats to 350 degrees.

Place your slightly frozen cookies in that 350 degree oven for 10 minutes–keep an eye out at the 9 minutes mark as oven times do vary.  Take them out at eleven minutes even if they look at little undercooked in the center, they will “finish” a bit while they cool and if you leave them too long, your cookie will be way too firm:(

Allow cookies to cool and you can store them in an airtight container for about one week.  If you prefer your cookies nice and fresh, you can save the dough “balls” for 4-5 days in your fridge and bake them as directed but remove a minute sooner from the oven as they will not be as “frozen” to start.

These are so tasty, I want to try them with wheat flour, or half and half, and my husband has already requested an oatmeal version…I will update you if I try, but please comment below if you try this one and have suggestions or if you try any modifications we might all love!

 

Happy Baking!