There are few things better than freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. As soon as you get a whiff of that smell coming from the oven, you can’t wait for that first bite of buttery, crispy exterior and warm, gooey centre. Thanks to Anna Olson, you can achieve that perfect cookie every single time — and in a matter of minutes.
Anna Olson’s chocolate chip cookies are a classic recipe that’s just as great for a party as it is for a quick after-school snack. Read on for her top tips to get the perfect cookie every single time, no matter how many times you make them! And for more of Anna’s chocolate chip cookies watch her bake them live here.
Use room-temperature butter and eggs
When you’re creaming butter, it’s easiest to use room-temperature ingredients. But if your butter is at room temperature, ensure your egg is, too. Or, at the very least, that the butter and egg are around the same temperature. Adding a cold egg to a room-temperature batter will tighten it up and can result in a denser cookie.
Weigh butter instead of measuring it
Measuring butter with a cup can be awkward and messy. If you can, use a kitchen scale instead. Anna Olson’s chocolate chip cookie recipe calls for half a cup of butter, which is four ounces by weight.
Related: Anna Olson’s Chocolate Truffle Shortbread Cookies
Cream sugar and butter
To get the perfect cookie structure that won’t fall apart, it’s important to spend enough time creaming the butter and sugar together. You can use a mixer or do this by hand as Anna Olson does. Listen to the ingredients come together: they should go from a crunching sound to a light, fluffy sound. That’s when you know the butter and sugar have been properly incorporated.
Sift your flour
Anna Olson promises that if you can’t sift your flour for these cookies because you’re short on time or you don’t have access to all your kitchen tools, that’s okay. But overall, she says it’s a good habit to get into and to try it here if possible.
Related: Anna Olson’s Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Don’t forget the cornstarch
Cornstarch is the secret ingredient in Anna Olson’s chocolate chip cookies, and it makes a big difference. Cornstarch lowers the protein content of the flour for lighter cookies, but it also retains moisture. That’s essential to baking cookies with that nice, soft centre that lasts for days after baking.
Don’t skimp on the chocolate chips
When you’re making chocolate chip cookies, you want at least one chocolate chip in every bite, but Anna Olson says a couple more is better. She also adds roasted pecan pieces to her recipe, ensuring there’s something yummy to bite into from start to finish.
Related: Anna Olson’s Best Cookie Recipes
Make even balls
When your dough is ready, use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to measure it out, then roll the cookies together by hand. Make sure the cookies are even (Anna Olson recommends two tablespoons per cookie) for a perfect, even bake.
Chill cookies before baking
This is an essential step if you want perfectly shaped chewie cookies in the centre with a slight crisp on the outside. Once your cookie dough balls are ready, place them in the fridge for an hour before baking. If you don’t want to bake all of your cookies at once, you can freeze them in resealable bags. Pull them out and let them sit on the counter for about 20 minutes before baking.
Related: Anna Olson Shares Her Best Baking Tips
Choose your baking sheet wisely
Anna Olson says it doesn’t really matter what kind of baking sheet you use for cookies, but she prefers aluminum. The material holds heat best for this kind of baking over other kitchen favourites like glass and ceramic.
Be careful with convection ovens
If you like to bake with a convection oven, ensure your model automatically sets the temperature at 25 degrees less than what the recipe calls for. If you have an older model that doesn’t, reduce the temperature manually to ensure the edges of the cookies don’t burn.
Related: Anna Olson’s Best Savoury Recipes
Give cookies space to bake
When you’re ready to bake, spread cookies out evenly on a baking tray with about two inches between them in all directions. That way they have lots of room to expand. Crowding the cookies can result in an uneven bake and odd-shaped cookies.
Tap the tray when done
Anna Olson’s chocolate chip cookies can cool on the sheet before transferring, but she has one last essential tip for the perfect bake every single time: smack the tray down as soon as it comes out of the oven. Doing so helps to collapse the centres of the cookies and gives them that chewy texture you crave with every single bite.