Big and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

From the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, Third Edition

Makes: About 20 large cookies
Prep Time: 5 min (More like 15 for me, but I put stuff away as I go)
Total time: 45 min (maybe more, depends on how fast you make the dough!)

Have parchment paper
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled. [I usually start by melting the butter in a bowl and then putting it in my freezer until I have everything else ready. It's cool enough by then (about 3-4 minutes)]
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (12-ounce bag) [Can be substituted with anything you want, white chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, peanut butter chips]

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl and set aside. It's important to mix the ingredients together to thoroughly incorporate them.

2. Beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed (I use 4 on the kitchenaide) until combined, 1 to 2 minutes (I go for 60 seconds). Beat in the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.

3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Mix in the chocolate chips until incorporated.

4. Working with 1/4 cup of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls and lay on two parchment lined baking sheets, spaced about 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake until the edges are golden but the centers are still soft and puffy, 17 to 20 minutes, rotating and switching the baking sheets halfway through baking. (I set the timer for 9 minutes, then when it goes off I switch and rotate both pans, then set for another 9 minutes.)

5. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

If you save the extra dough for later, cook it at 300 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. (I do 11 minutes, then switch and rotate, then another 11. They turned out great.)

Another helpful hint: If you're making the second round of cookies right away, don't put the dough on hot pans. Cool them off by running them under cold water BEFORE putting any new dough on them.

Test Kitchen Tip: A Chewy Cookie:
The quest began simply enough: We wanted the ultimate home-baked chocolate chip cookie. It had to be thick (1/2 inch high), jumbo (4 inches in diameter), and bursting with chocolate. It also had to have a mouthwatering texture that was crispy on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside. One key element in achieving this cookie, after lots of testing (no one in the kitchen complained), was the use of melted butter. It acts very differently from softened butter in a cookie dough (they are not mere substitutes for one another). The melted butter is what accounts for the inside of the cookie being more chewy. But to keep a chewy cookie from being tough, you need to add a little extra fat, which we did in the form of two egg yolks. The yolk is what helps the chewy cookie stay tender. And finally, removing the cookies from the oven before they look completely baked and letting them finish baking on the hot baking sheets for 10 minutes is a must because it helps the cookies set without overbaking and ruining that marvelous chewiness.