I have several chocolate chip cookie recipes from Williams Sonoma, all collected from different books and sources and modified over the years. There's an old recipe from Williams Sonoma Cookies collection that bakes up especially crunchy. There's another one from a Williams Sonoma kids' cookbook, which I've used as a base for different mix-ins including salty snack mix. And there's this one, which is loved by many. These cookies remind me of the ones from Tiny's Milk and Cookies aka Tiny Boxwoods in Houston.
This recipe is simple, reliable and has that classic homemade chocolate chip cookie flavor that never goes out of style. The dough comes together quickly, spreads nicely and produces cookies with crisp edges and slightly chewy centers. Or should!
Interestingly, nearly every version of this recipe floating around online contains a little mystery. The ingredient list calls for 1¼ cups of flour, but then lists that amount as 200 grams, which would actually be closer to 1⅔ cups. My guess is that either the cup measurement or the gram conversion was accidentally changed somewhere along the way. After making these cookies countless times, I've found that about 160 grams (1¼ cups) works.
I'm also convinced that the original recipe's 2½ cups of chocolate chips is a bit excessive, though I suppose that's open to debate. Is there really such a thing as too much chocolate? I usually use about 1¼ cups of chips or 8 to 10 ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate, which leaves plenty of dough in every bite. Here's a picture of the chocolate I used in my last batch. This is a mixture of Guittard Super Cookie Chips, Valrhona Batons and Guittard Milk Chocolate Chips. Notice anything ?
Bloomed Chocolate
This seems like a good opportunity to mention chocolate bloom, which I don't run into often.
If your chocolate chips or chunks have developed a grayish or powdery coating like the ones pictured above, don't panic. That's called bloom, and it happens when cocoa butter or sugar crystals migrate to the surface during storage. While bloomed chocolate may not win any beauty contests, it's perfectly safe to eat and works beautifully in cookies. In fact, some of my best batches have been made with chocolate that looked exactly like this. Once the cookies hit the oven, the bloom disappears and all that's left is plenty of chocolate flavor. Consider it proof that chocolate has no expiration date when cookie cravings strike.
Notes on Williams Sonoma Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
- Measure the flour carefully and weigh it if possible.
- If using loads of chocolate chunks, you may want to also use King Arthur flour.
- Cream the butter and sugar for at least 2 minutes.
- The amount of salt is pretty low. Adding an extra pinch of salt (only if using unsalted butter) improves the cookies. Instead of adding an extra pinch of salt you can use salted butter, but the cookies will have a bit of a salty flavor.
- Use vanilla paste instead of vanilla.
- Use a tightly packed cookie scoop and make the cookies slightly larger -- about 1.6 oz.
- The dough doesn't have to be chilled, but chilling overnight will enhance the flavor
Recipe
Williams Sonoma Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (160 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (114 grams)
- ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar (100 to 110 grams)
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar (72 grams)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1 ½ to 2 ½ cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips up to 15 oz (This is a lot!)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or skip this step if you plan to chill the dough.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth, about 2 minutes. One of the things that makes this cookies special is a long creaming, so try to go for the full two minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla and mix on low speed until blended.
- Add the flour mixture gradually, mixing on low or stirring by hand with a scraper. Stir in the chocolate chips
- Scoop dough up by heaping tablespoons or a medium size scoop and arrange on baking sheets spacing 2 ½ inches apart. If using chunks, you might want to make the cookies twice this size.
- Bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time at 350F, until the bottoms and edges are lightly browned and the tops feel firm when lightly touched, 10-13 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
- Convection Bake: This will vary from oven to oven, but 330F for a more controlled bake (10-12 minutes) or 350F for about 10 minutes for some more browning.
Notes
Barbara @ Barbara Bakes says
What a fun way to change up a chocolate chip cookie. I'm going to have to pick up some Rumform baking powder.