On my first trip abroad to the United States in 2001, I had the chance to taste different kinds of cookies: chocolate chips, oat and raisins, white chocolate and the list goes on. It was love at first bite and quite frankly, I do not recall seeing these “American cookies” in Brazil at that time!

I tried to find some recipes on the internet and the closest one I found was called “Cookies Juju”, which is available in Portuguese in this link. Back then, I did not know how to use a mixer and was never able to get the recipe right. At least they were edible, sometimes!

In Canada, pretty much like in the US, these cookies are available everywhere and only after having purchased my first mixer I was able to get it right. With a mixer, you can cream the butter properly and make dough lighter to eat, but not lighter in calories! By baking cookies at home, you can use the best quality ingredients and avoid shortenings, sodium silicoaluminate, artificial flavours and other food additives.

One day, I bought a package of chocolate chips with a recipe for the “perfect chocolate chip cookies”. I decided to give it a try and for my and my family’s delight, it was spot on. I tried recipes from other packages and brands, but they did not make it as good as this one, so let’s get baking.

What you need

• Bowls
• Baking trays
• Cooling rack
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Mixer with flat beater
• Parchment paper or silicone mats
• Scraper, whisk and cookie spoon

Plan ahead

• Preparation time: 15 minutes
• Cooking time: 9 to 11 minutes
• Cooling time: 5 to 10 minutes
• Portions: 24 to 30 cookies

Recipe

Ingredients	Qty	Unit	Cups/Spoons	Instructions
				Make sure you have half a brick of butter or 227 g at room temperature before starting this recipe!
				Preheat the oven to 375 F or 190 C.
All-purpose flour	660	ml	2 2/3 cups	Add the flour to a bowl, the “dry” bowl.
Baking soda	5	ml	1 tsp	Add to the dry bowl.
				Baking soda is going to make the cookies flat. If you use baking powder, the cookies are going to be fluffy.
Salt	2.5	ml	1/2 tsp	Add to the dry bowl.
				Whisk the dry ingredients and reserve.
Unsalted butter	125	ml	1/2 cup	Add the butter to the mixer bowl. This is half a brick of butter or 227 g.
Granulated sugar	150	ml	3/4 cup	Add to the mixer bowl.
Light or dark brown sugar	150	ml	3/4 cup	Add to the mixer bowl. Pack the sugar when measuring it.
				Attach the flat beater and the mixer bowl to the mixer, turn it on medium, medium-high speed and cream the butter and sugars until clear and fluffy, around 5 min.
Egg	2	un		With the mixer running, add one egg at a time to the mixer bowl. Make sure the egg is well blended before adding the other one.
Vanilla extract or essence	2.5	ml	1/2 tsp	With the mixer running, add to the mixer bowl.
				Stop the mixer. Run a scraper on the sides of the mixer bowl to incorporate any ingredients that did not blend well.
				Turn the mixer on at low speed.
				Add the dry ingredients, slowly. Mix just until you cannot see the dry mixture anymore. Stop the mixer.
Chocolate chips	125	ml	1/2 cup	Add to the mixer bowl. You can add up to 250 ml or 1 cup, to taste.
Chopped walnuts	125	ml	1/2 cup	Add to the mixer bowl. You can replace it with other nuts to taste or simply skip this step.
				Turn the mixer on at low speed. Two or three spins are enough to incorporate the chips and nuts to the dough.
				Do not over mix or the cookies can become tough!
				Detach the flat beater and the mixer bowl. Retrieve any dough from the beater.
				With a cookie spoon or a tablespoon, portion the dough in the baking tray. Leave room between the cookies so they do not stick together while baking.
				Bake the cookies for 9 to 11 minutes. Do not over bake them. The longer they stay in the oven, the crunchier they become!
				Remove the cookies from the oven and let them rest on the cooling rack. Leave the cookies in the baking tray for at least 5 minutes, otherwise they might break.
				Repeat until all the dough is finished. You can keep the dough in the fridge for a couple of days or freeze it for a couple of months as well.

A glass of milk goes very well with these cookies that make a perfect snack or even dessert. I hope you enjoy these freshly baked “perfect chocolate chip” cookies and see you in the next recipe.