The Ultimate Average Chocolate Chip Cookie

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Sift the two flours together. Line 3 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and set them aside.

Step 2

Add the soft butter to the bowl of a stand mixer, followed by the cane sugar and soft brown sugar. After a minute or so, turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and paddle with a flexible bowl scraper or silicone spatula.

Step 3

Add the baking soda and mix again. Scrape again. Add the salt and mix. Scrape again. Add the vanilla extract and mix again. You are aiming for an evenly mixed dough. This is why you want to scrape down the bowl—especially the bottom—before mixing again.

Step 4

Once all the ingredients have been added, mix the ingredients until they are fully combined, about 2 minutes. You don’t want the mix to be super fluffy, just enough to make sure all the ingredients have disappeared into the dough.

Step 5

With the mixer running on medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, until each is incorporated. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and paddle. Mix again until there are no visible egg streaks, about 30 seconds.

Step 6

With the mixer running on low, add the sifted flours and the chocolate chips. Mix until everything has come together. Do not overmix. Remove the paddle and bowl from the mixer. Make sure to use a bowl scraper to flip and fold the dough near the bottom of the bowl. Scrape and fold until the dough is thoroughly mixed, with no visible streaks of individual ingredients.

Step 7

Using a #10 scoop as a guide, portion out 100-gram balls of cookie dough. Space them evenly on the prepared half-sheet trays. You should have 15 cookies total. (Portioning the cookie dough when it first comes out of the stand mixer makes it easier for you to have uniformly delicious cookies. The resting bulk dough out of the refrigerator is tough to scoop. You might lose chunks of cookie dough. You don't want that.)

Step 8

Put the sheet pans in the refrigerator to rest for at least 2 hours. The ideal resting time is 4 hours.

Step 9

After the dough has rested in the refrigerator, put the trays of cookie dough on the counter and let them rest for an hour before baking. It’s time to wake up the cookies from their nap and warm up before you bake them.

Step 10

Preheat the oven to 350 °F / 177 °C on the convection setting. (If you do not have a convection oven, increase your baking time as needed).

Step 11

Position a rack in the center of the oven. Put the sheet pan in the middle of that rack. After 5 minutes of baking, rotate the pan 180° on the oven rack. Keep the pan in the middle of the rack.

Step 12

Bake until the edges are a light golden brown, starting to set, and the middle of the cookie looks a touch soft, about 7 more minutes. (If you are using a traditional oven, this will probably take about 9 minutes.)

Step 13

Sprinkle some flaky sea salt on top of each cookie as soon as the tray comes out of the oven.

Step 14

Let the cookies cool on the pan. Put the pan on a wire cooling rack, so air can flow beneath the pan as well as around it. Allow the cookies to cool until they are cool enough for you to pick one up and eat it, about 15 minutes.