King Arthur Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

Next up: King Arthur Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found out about these cookies while reading Reeni's blog, Cinnamon, Spice, and Everything Nice. Like her, I realized I didn't have any chocolate chip cookie posts on my blog (well, maybe just one) and that's what started this whole CCC madness. You can bet that there will definitely be chocolate chip cookie posts now. A LOT of them.


I've always heard that you can't go wrong with King Arthur Flour recipes, so this one also made it onto my list. It uses brown sugar and white sugar in equal amounts and it also includes vinegar as one of the ingredients. I've heard of adding hot water to a cookie recipe, but vinegar? I'm sure there's some sort of chemical reaction going on with that. Maybe it works with the baking soda and keeps the cookies from getting flat. I didn't know, but I was going to find out.

The only change I made to the recipe was to use all unsalted butter instead of a butter-shortening combo. I also didn't add the optional almond extract.

I actually made this recipe twice. The first time, I baked the dough right after making it. I got wonderfully thick chewy cookies with nice crisp edges and a crunchy outer shell. But, the cookies were pale and lacked flavor. The second time, I chilled the dough for 48 hours as KAF recommends then baked them and voila!


This time, the cookies took on a darker caramel colored look as they baked. The resulting taste was also completely different from the unchilled cookies. These were so much richer with delicious buttery undertones. I'm not sure how they would have been after only 24 hours, but I can assure you that the 48 hour chilling time is definitely worth the wait.

By the way, I also let some dough chill for 72 hours just to see if it would make the cookies even better. What I found was that less is more in this case. The 72-hour cookies actually lost the potent caramel flavor that was so prominent in the 48-hour cookies. I'm not sure why this happened. All I can tell you is that you will get the best results if you go with a 48-hour chill time, no more and no less.


King Arthur Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies (from King Arthur Flour)

2/3 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed
2/3 c. white sugar
1 c. unsalted butter, right from the fridge, or at room temperature
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. vinegar, cider or white (I used white)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 large egg
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

In a large bowl, combine the sugars, butter, salt, vanilla, vinegar, and baking soda, beating until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg, again beating until smooth. Mix in the flour, then the chips.

Use a spoon (or a tablespoon cookie scoop) to scoop 1 1/4" balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2" between them on all sides; they'll spread.

Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes, till their edges are chestnut brown and their tops are light golden brown, almost blonde. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pan till they've set enough to move without breaking. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Great CCC Quest of 2011:
Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies
BAKED Chocolate Chip Cookies
Allrecipes' Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Soft Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ultimate Chewy and Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
Joanne Chang's Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sugar Plum's Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
America's Test Kitchen Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is linked to:
My Meatless Mondays
Sweet Tooth Friday
So Sweet Sunday
Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Hearth n' Soul Hop
Made it on Monday
Recipes I Can't Wait to Try
Whisking Wednesday
These Chicks Cooked
Full Plate Thursday
CCC Round-Up