Why are my chocolate chip cookies hard?

Drop cookies are my favorite type of cookie because they are simple to make and require no special equipment. They are called dropped cookies because you basically drop a blob of cookie dough on to a cookie sheet and into the oven they go. One of my favorite dropped cookie recipe is Nestle® Toll House® Chocolate Chip Cookies. Who doesn't love a warm chocolate chip cookie with a glass of milk?

The big problem with baking cookies is that people generally over cook them so they are hard and tasteless. All foods continue cooking after they are removed from the oven and cookies are no exception. 

Here are a few rules to insure that all your cookies are soft and chewy.

Rule 1: Cookies should always be taken out of the oven before you think they look done. If the cookies are evenly brown all over when they are removed from the oven they have been over cooked.

Left picture right out of the oven, right picture 10 minutes later.

Rule 2: Cookies should always be taken immediately off the cookie sheet and placed on a cooling rack. Think about how long it takes for cookie sheets to cool down so that you can touch them. If the cookies are left on the cookie sheet they will continue cooking even longer at a much higher temperature.

Rule 3: Always allow cookie sheets to cool before you place the next round of cookie dough on them. Placing cookie dough on hot cookie sheets starts the cooking process.

If you don’t own at least two matching cookie sheets it is time to buy them. Why two matching? All bake ware cooks differently. If you are already having problems don’t make it worse by using two different types of cookie sheets and having to adjust for each one. You wouldn't wear two different running shoes if you were running a race why would you bake with different bake ware. Spend the extra money I promise it will be worth it!

There is one more piece of equipment that I would like you to get that will go a long way in insuring a great finished product and that is an oven thermometer. I don’t care how new or old your oven is rarely is the temperature inside the oven the same at the temperature you set it at. Hang the thermometer from the highest rack near the middle of the oven and leave it there. Then every time you use your oven take a quick look at the temperature, when the oven finishes heating up, and make adjustments if necessary.

My oven.

Be sure to always read the directions before starting. One of the biggest things to watch for in the directions is whether the cookie sheets need to be greased. Cookie sheets are greased to prevent the cookies from sticking to the cookie sheet so never skip this step unless the directions say otherwise. Always grease the cookie sheets with shortening not butter or margarine. I generally use parchment paper on my cookies sheets to eliminate the need to grease the cookie sheets.  There is no need to use a new sheet every time. I use the same two pieces over and over when making cookies then throw them away when I’m done making the batch.

Original Nestle® Toll House® Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 ¼ C Flour
1t Baking soda

1t Salt
1C Butter – softened
¾ C Sugar
¾ C packed Brown Sugar
1t Vanilla
2 Large eggs
2 C Nestle® Toll House® Semi-Sweet Morsels
1 C Chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

Recipe tips:

Soften butter does not mean melted.

Vanilla, while nice to have in the cookies, is not necessary.  So if you don’t have any don’t make a special trip to the store.

Nuts are optional in this recipe.
Always start with the shortest baking time recommended in the recipe.

Most recipes I make contain some of my own tweaks and this great recipe is no exception.

Shortening, butter or margarine can be used in this recipe. Remember when the recipe calls for butter or margarine it is the cubed kind not the kind in a tub. You can even use a combination of them, if needed, as long as they add up to 1 cup. If you use shortening the cookies won’t spread as much and will have a stronger brown sugar taste.

Left picture made with butter, right picture made with shortening.

When using shortening I always add at least a tablespoon of water to the dough when mixing as I like the texture better. Sometimes I will even add an extra egg instead of the extra water.

You can play a little with the measurements for the sugar and brown sugar as long as the total amount is 1 ½ cups total. So if you are a little short of one of the sugars just substitute the other.

I make my cookies big because I like “COOKIES” not “cookies”. Generally I get about 3 dozen cookies from the recipe.

I personally prefer shiny cookie sheets without sides. If using darker cookie sheets remember that they hold more heat and your cookies will brown sooner.

This is a great basic cookie dough recipe and the chocolate chips can be substituted for a wide variety of other items. Just use your imagination! Nuts, raisins, peanut butter chips…..

Thank you Nestle® for a great recipe that has stood the test of time. The recipe can be found on the back of every package of Nestle® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels and at the link below.

http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/18476/original-nestl%C3%89-toll-house-chocolate-chip-cookies/detail.aspx

Nestle® and Toll House® are registered trademarks owned by Societe des Products Nestle S.A. Vevey, Switzerland