Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oh my, this is a gooood recipe.  I do not know how many chocolate chip cookie recipes I have tried making but I know it's around 100.  They are all similar but sometimes they have unusual ingredients or sometimes it's the exact same ingredients as another recipe but different measurements which results in a different texture.  These cookies include a small amount of cream cheese and cornstarch. Those are 2 out of the ordinary chocolate chip cookie ingredients.  I really really liked this recipe.  BUT, I don't think I would like it as well if I had just mixed the dough and started baking right away.

  I made the dough yesterday, lined a 13x9 pan with plastic wrap, pressed my dough firmly into the plastic wrap lined pan, froze overnight, inverted the dough onto a cutting board, carefully peeled the plastic wrap off the big hunk of frozen cookie dough, cut into squares and baked while the square were still frozen solid.  That routine is one of my favorite ways to make chocolate chip cookies.  It always results in extra thick and dense cookies.  I saw the bakers at Specialties Bakery do it that way before and that's where I got the idea.  That is why my cookies are squareish and not round.  It's also super quick because I cut all the dough into squares, position them onto 3 parchment lined cookie sheets and place them all into the oven at once (on 3 different racks).  I can bake 3 pans at once because I have a convection oven.  All 3 pans bake perfectly evenly.

But if you are looking for a cookie recipe that is a little different, I highly recommend this one. But I cannot say how good these cookies would be if you baked the dough immediately after mixing.  I'm sure they would be completely delicious but my guess is they wouldn't be as thick.

Oh, and for my chocolate, I used a huge dark chocolate Trader Joes chocolate bar cut into little chunks and also a bag of Sees chocolate chips which are like a semi sweet chunk.   But I also think these cookies would be wonderful with milk chocolate chips.

I removed my cookies from the oven when the edges were slightly golden brown. The middle still appeared undone but I removed them anyways.  I couldn't even remove them from the cookie sheet for a good 1/2 hour till they set up. That's how soft and gooey they were!  I always just slide my entire sheet of parchment right off the cookie sheet right onto a cooling rack. That way my cookies remain undisturbed till they are fully cooled.

Brandi the pug is photobombing this delicious shot! Yummmm...she is thinking!

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

Based on recipe from:

American Heritage Cooking

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ¼ cup cream cheese, softened (don’t use fat free, light or whipped cream cheese!)
• ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt (kosher or sea salt)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 
• ½ cup bittersweet chocolate chips 

Instructions

1. Whisk together in a medium bowl the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. Cream butter, cream cheese, sugars, egg and vanilla together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. I use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
3. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture. After each addition mix until just incorporated. I do 5-7 small additions.
4. Add the chocolate chips and mix briefly to distribute.
5. I would suggest refrigerating the dough 2 hours or up to 3 days before baking. When you are ready to bake, proceed to the next step.
6. Pre-heat the oven to 350° and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop the dough using a 2” cookie scoop or a ¼ cup measuring cup and place 2” apart on the cookie sheet. These cookies really don’t spread that much.
7. Bake 11-12 minutes. The sides should just be starting to brown. You don’t want them to be brown. Just have a nice kiss of color. Let them cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet and then move to a wire rack to cool completely.