Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Do you like your chocolate chip cookies chewy? Then this chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe is the one you need. I also like the contrast in texture that nuts give. Leave them out if you like.

"A delicious chocolate chip cookie!"

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter at room temperature
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 oz.) Hershey's semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla with a mixer on medium speed until well blended. Beat in the egg, mixing well.

Thoroughly combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and beat slowly to incorporate and then beat to blend well.

Stir in the chocolate chips and the nuts. (I prefer pecans.)

Drop the batter in 2-tablespoon portions about 2 inches apart on cool baking sheets.

Bake in a 400° oven until the edges of the cookies just begin to brown but an area about 1 inch wide in the center is still pale. This should take about 6 to 7 minutes. It's most important to not over-bake a chewy chocolate chip cookie.

Let the cookies cool on the pan a minute or so and then transfer to racks to cool completely. If they last that long.

Moisture does. The recipe is adjusted along with the baking time and temperature to retain as much moisture as possible.

The water in the butter, eggs and brown sugar is bound up by the extra flour, which makes the dough stiffer. The stiffer dough spreads less and slows the evaporation of the moisture.

The 400 degree oven and the short baking time firms the cookies quicker with a minimum of spreading. This makes the cookies thicker and chewier.

Any cookie recipe, including this chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe, can produce a crisp cookie if its over baked.

Be sure and remove your cookies when the edges just begin to start browning. The center will remain pale and will be soft.

Baking time is the most critical element to producing a chewy chocolate chip cookie.