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My son insisted that soft cookies were not beyond my abilities. Of course they aren't, I just don't like to make cookies. But he wanted cookies...so I bought a box of Trader Joe Truffle Mix, and followed the directions for chewy cookies. I knew it wouldn't work. The directions called for melted butter, and melted butter doesn't act the same way softened butter does. But this wasn't about logic, it was about getting cookies made when I didn't want to make cookies. And although I produced a plate cookies that were indeed soft, he scoffed at them, and with a wicked little grin, engaged in a little mommy manipulation. Fine, the challenge has been made, and I WILL produce a batch of from scratch, chocolate chip cookies that stay soft. No matter how much it annoys me.
This is the recipe I ended up with after much thought and research. You can feel free to duplicate my efforts, but I don't know how they will come out if you bake properly (you know, measuring and separating dry ingredients from wet...). If you are a person who bakes properly, I'm very, very sorry for this.
Marianne's Version of Perfectly Annoying but Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup butter, at room temperature, pulled out and left while making breakfast
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla, - ish, because I just pour it right from the bottle into the mixer.
5.1 oz instant vanilla pudding, many recipes call for the small box, but this was in the pantry
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt, - ish, I just poured it into my hand, usually works. Whimsical, no?
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sift? I don't sift, I scoop
1 cup mini chocolate chips, they go farther than the regular sized chips
Beat butter, sugars and vanilla in a stand mixer while you gather the rest of the ingredients. The butter and sugar really need time together, so find something to do while they get fluffy together.
Add the pudding mix, eggs, baking soda, and salt. Normal baking instructions want dry ingredients mixed together, but not much is nastier than getting a big bite of baking soda. Let this go while you tidy up your work area.
Now add the flour and the chocolate chips. Just until it's mixed in, we're not making bread here.
Cover it and put it in the fridge. Why? To let the flour absorb the moisture and let the butter get solid again. I'm thinking pie crust here (but, for the record, I hate making pie crust WAY more than I hate making cookies).
Now go shopping and run errands and forget about it until someone reminds you that you were supposed to make cookies (annoying child).
Take out the bowl of now rock hard dough and be annoyed. Break it apart with a wooden spoon. Resist all temptation to microwave it until it's soft enough to handle, because that will negate the whole chilling/resting process, that probably would have been just fine after only an hour. Next time I'll stay focused.
Preheat oven to 400°.
I know, based on experience, that when I open the oven to put in a sheet of cookies, the temperature drops 25 degrees, so I preheat my oven to 400, and then drop it to 375° to cook. For each batch. (Yes, this totally flies in the face of the non-conformism happening here, what can I say?)
Now, find the scoop that is 1 3/4" diameter. It should hold 1.5 tablespoons. This is the perfect thing for making cookies.
Scoop the dough and scrape it off level on the side of the bowl.
Flatten the dough ball gently between your palms just until it's an even thickness,it's a quick press, just enough so that it's a disc. It will sort of look like a store bought cookie. This makes them bake evenly. Because after all this, you might as well get it right.
I fit 12 on my cookie sheet. Which I did not grease, and is silver, not dark. And, annoyingly enough, too large for the dishwasher.
Put the sheet in the oven, drop the heat to 375, and bake for 12 minutes. Your time might vary. The cookies should be just golden, and soft in the middle. Let them cool on the sheet until the next batch comes out of the oven, then transfer them to a cooling rack. Taste one, and announce loudly that they are done. Stand back as sons and friends inhale the whole batch, and a half gallon of milk. Pretend to be annoyed. Accept accolades that these are the best cookies you have made, ever.
I got 36 cookies out of this recipe. They are still soft 36 hours later. I only know this because I hid 12 of them for "testing".