I tried Alton Brown’s chocolate chip cookie recipe “The Chewy” and it was a challenging cookie recipe to make. First of all, his recipe has everything measured in ounces so it requires a lot of measuring and the use of a food scale. If you don’t have a food scale yet, why not? It is one of the handiest little kitchen tools I’ve ever used.
If you like Alton Brown Recipes:
- Alton Brown's Smoked Meatloaf Recipe
- Alton Brown's Pumpkin Pie Recipe
- Alton Brown's Stove Top Mac and Cheese
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Why You Will Like This Recipe
Baking is about precision and attention, at which Alton Brown excels. If you follow his instructions to the letter this recipe cannot fail. Please use a food scale as well. I do have the correct measurements below in cups for those that don't have a food scale.
Second, my cookies turned out nothing like the ones on his website did for this recipe. Mine came out darker and a little bit less chunky than his photo looked. Overall, it was a pretty good cookie and I would definitely make these again.
Alton made a few changes from the original Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie. He used bread flour instead of regular all-purpose flour which gives these cookies more protein and a much chewier texture. Used more brown sugar than white sugar and changed the content of his eggs to 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk.
Ingredients Needed
- Unsalted butter - is the most commonly used type of butter in baking, as it allows for more control over the amount of salt in the recipe.
- Bread flour (2 ¼ cups) - I have tried this cookie with both regular all purpose flour and bread flour and didn't notice much of a difference.
- Baking soda - also known as sodium bicarbonate, is a white crystalline powder that is commonly used in baking as a leavening agent
- Granulated sugar - Or regular granulated sugar, I do not use sugar substitutes in any of my recipes but if you know the conversions feel free to do so
- Light brown sugar - Is made by combining granulated white sugar with molasses, which gives it a brown color and a slightly different taste than regular white sugar.
- Large egg - The best type of eggs you can buy at the store are organic or free-range eggs, while others may prefer eggs from specific breeds of chickens
- Whole milk - Dairy does not like me at all so I go for a lactose free milk such as Fairlife. It also has more protein in it.
- Vanilla extract - It is made by macerating and soaking vanilla beans in a mixture of water and Vodka. Use a good pure vanilla instead of the imitation vanilla extract.
- Semisweet chocolate chips - Chocolate chips come in a variety of sizes, ranging from mini chips to large chunks. Use whatever you prefer.
- See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to make Alton Brown’s Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie
Step 1: Melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan over low heat. Set aside to cool slightly. Or you can melt the butter in the microwave.
Step 2: Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda onto a paper plate. Pour the butter into your stand mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 2 minutes.
Step 3: Meanwhile, whisk together the whole egg, the egg yolk, milk and vanilla extract in a measuring cup. Reduce the mixer speed and slowly add the egg mixture. Mix until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.
Step 4: Using the paper plate as a slide, gradually integrate the dry ingredients, stopping a couple of times to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Once the flour is worked in, drop the speed to "stir" and add the chocolate chips. Chill the dough for 1 hour.
Step 5: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and place racks in the top third and bottom third of the oven.
P.S. Yes, I know it's dirty, I was trying to clean it. 😉
Step 6: Scoop the dough into 1 ½-ounce portion onto parchment-lined half sheet pans, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake 2 sheets at a time for 15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through.
Remove from the oven, slide the parchment with the cookies onto a cooling rack and wait at least 5 minutes before devouring.
Tips for A Chewy Cookie
Instead of melting butter in a pot on the stove, you can always microwave the butter until it is all melted. Quick and easier than using a pan. Always use microwave-safe bowls.
What makes a cookie chewy? For Alton’s recipe, he substituted the all-purpose flour for bread flour which has more protein. He also uses melted butter and he even said in this particular episode “the darker the brown sugar, the better!” For a chewier cookie.
How to properly store cookies? Do not leave these cookies out over night make sure to store them right away or else they will get hard like hockey pucks! Store cookies in airtight containers. If your cookies begin to dry out, add a piece of bread to the container. You can freeze any leftover cookies in freezer bags or airtight containers as well.
If you don’t want to bake all the cookies at once, just freeze the dough and use what you need. I like to do this and shape the leftover dough into a log and tightly wrap it with saran wrap. Then you can just slice whatever you need and bake them in the oven.
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If you tried this Alton Brown’s Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you! Follow along on Tiktok @jennarecipediaries
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Alton Brown's The Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Total Time: 1 hr 50 min
- Yield: 2 dozen 1x
- Category: Medium
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
I tried Alton Brown’s chocolate chip cookie recipe “The Chewy” and it was a challenging cookie recipe to make. First of all, his recipe has everything measured in ounces so it requires a lot of measuring and the use of a food scale. If you don’t have a food scale yet, why not? It is one of the handiest little kitchen tools I’ve ever used.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces unsalted butter (2 sticks)
- 12 ounces bread flour (2 ¼ cups)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 ounces granulated sugar (¼ cup)
- 8 ounces light brown sugar (¼ cup + 1 cup)
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 ounce whole milk (2 tablespoons)
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan over low heat. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda onto a paper plate. Pour the butter into your stand mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the whole egg, the egg yolk, milk and vanilla extract in a measuring cup. Reduce the mixer speed and slowly add the egg mixture. Mix until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.
- Using the paper plate as a slide, gradually integrate the dry ingredients, stopping a couple of times to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Once the flour is worked in, drop the speed to "stir" and add the chocolate chips. Chill the dough for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and place racks in the top third and bottom third of the oven.
- Scoop the dough into 1 ½-ounce portion onto parchment-lined half sheet pans, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake 2 sheets at a time for 15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Remove from the oven, slide the parchment with the cookies onto a cooling rack and wait at least 5 minutes before devouring.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 289
- Sugar: 10g
- Sodium: 153mg
- Fat: 16g
- Saturated Fat: 9g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2g
- Carbohydrates: 31g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 5g
Dee says
Love this recipe. My family says these are the best cookies ever. However, I think the flour measurements might be off. 12 oz of bread flour is equivalent to 2.66 cups. I increased the flour using this ration. I ended up having to add even more - I am in Central Florida & it is always humid. Other than that, this is all I will use for my base cookie recipe from now on. Thanks for sharing.
Bonnie says
I used to live at high altitude. This recipe thinned out a little. Rather than adjust amounts, I refrigerate the dough and bake cold.
Deborah says
Ooops. Correction, 12 oz liquid or wet is 1 1/2 C. That will teach me to proofread!
Deborah says
I love Alton Brown's chocolate chip cookie recipe. I appreciate your converting the ingredientweights to ounces, but 12 oz. dry weight is 2 3/4 C. 12 oz. wet is 2 1/4 C. There is a big difference whether you are measuring ounces in weight (dry) or volume (wet). Please correct your recipe so that others may enjoy it. Thank you.
Jenna says
Fair enough!
Colleen says
4 stars because they weren't puffy like Altons picture & a little greasy on the bottom of the cookie.
I didn't weigh the flour. 12oz didn't seem like enough flour. I scooped the flour into the measuring cups & leveled (2 1/4 c). I used 1.2oz cookie scoop cuz that's what I had. Cooked for 9 min. One pan at a time
I let the 1st batch cool on the cookie sheet before moving to a cooling rack. The 2nd & 3rd batch I moved the parchment paper with the cookies to cool on the cooling rack. The difference, the 1st batch thin'd out like a normal tollhouse cookie, the other 2 batches did seem to stay a little thicker.
I think next time I will try with soften butter instead of melted. All said & done I got chocolate chip cookies & there's nothing wrong with that 🙂
Cindy says
These are the best cookies ever! They are so chewy and delicious. I have searched and searched for a go to chocolate chip cookie recipe and I have finally found it!