As Requested - My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

I recently reviewed the "Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" by Cook's Illustrated.  Although CI's cookies were indeed very good, I mentioned they weren't as good as my favorite recipe.  Little did I know how many comments and email requests I would get by saying that.

So here is the recipe that I love so much - it comes from CookWise by Shirley O. Corriher.  In the book, Shirley shares 4 chocolate chip cookie variations; basic, thin, puffed, and lastly, in-between.  The "puffed" and "in-between" versions rely on the use of butter-flavored shortening instead of real butter like the "basic" and "thin" versions.  Since my blog is called ButterYum, you can guess which variations I wanted to try - the basic and the thin ones.  Both were extremely good, but the thin cookies won my family's taste test by a landslide.

Because butter melts more easily than shortening, these cookies spread a bit during baking - they bake up crisp around the edges and chewy in the middle.  They aren't the most attractive chocolate chip cookies you'll ever see, but I promise they won't disappoint when it comes to flavor - I can't resist their strong vanilla, hint of caramel, chocolaty-chip goodness.  I hope you like them as much as we do.  On a side note - this recipe contains no eggs, so enjoy eating the dough raw without guilt.

Items used to make this recipe:

(*affiliate links)

• #50 cookie scoop https://amzn.to/3K8ZPNc

• pure vanilla extract (be sure to use the good stuff here) https://amzn.to/3tVjLOR

• mini chocolate chips https://amzn.to/3AxUvPV

• half sheet pans https://amzn.to/3IyB0tl

• silpat liners https://amzn.to/3KDvlEd

• Lyle’s golden syrup https://amzn.to/4eBEpbm

• CookWise by Shirley O. Corriher https://amzn.to/47WPjGd

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Shirley O. Corriher's Thin Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes 36 cookies (#50 cookie scoop)

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups bleached all-purpose flour (yes bleached - using unbleached flour will result in "greasy" cookies)

• 3/4 teaspoon fine salt

• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/3 cup light brown sugar

• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup (*see my note below)

• 2 tablespoons milk

• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

• 1 cup mini chocolate chips (6 ounces) - regular choc. chips are too large for these cookies

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar together until light and fluffy.

4. Add corn syrup and milk; beat well and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

5. Add vanilla extract; beat well.

6. On low speed, gradually add the reserved dry ingredients and mix on low until combined.

7. Add mini chips and mix on low for 5 seconds.

8. Remove bowl from mixer and check to see all the ingredients are combined well - use a silicone spatula to finish mixing if needed.

9. Prepare half half sheet pans by spraying with non-stick baking spray (or line with Silpat liners).

10. Drop a #50 scoop (1 tablespoon) of batter about 2 inches apart onto completely cool sheet pan (don't be afraid to chill the cookie dough if it starts to get too soft at room temperature).

11. Bake one sheet pan at a time; for 8-12 minutes or until edges just begin to turn brown (check early).

12. Remove sheet pan from oven and wait 3 minutes before transferring cookies to a rack to cool completely.

Note

• My adaptation of this recipe uses an equal amount of Lyle’s Golden Syrup in place of the light corn syrup. The flavor of Golden Syrup is buttery and caramel-y (is that a word???). I made both versions recently and the Lyle’s Golden Syrup version was preferred by all.

adapted from CookWise by Shirley O. Corriher

I can't believe I'm posting these....

181 Calorie Chocolate Muffins (a Hungry Girl recipe) - ButterYum

I can't believe I'm posting these - they go completely against my bake-from-scratch philosophy, but hey, they're so good, I had to tell you about them (update - I've included a homemade chocolate cake mix recipe below).  The teens liked these muffins so much that they've asked me to make them repeatedly since we first tried them - what does that tell you?

I first saw the recipe on the blog Hungry Girl.  When I heard they were made with only two ingredients and only contained 181 calories, I knew I wanted to try them.

**This post contains affiliate links.

I should first start by telling you that I generally don't like chocolate and pumpkin together, but honestly, all you taste here is an incredibly moist chocolate muffin.

So here we go - you'll need an 18.25 ounce box of devil's food cake mix (homemade recipe is listed below) and a 15 ounce can of 100% pure pumpkin puree.  Mix the two together (just the dry mix and the pumpkin - no egg, or oil, or water).  You can do this by hand, but the flat beater of your stand mixer will make quick work of it.  Line a muffin pan with 12 liners; divide the batter evenly among the 12 liners (they won't rise much while baking).  Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 20 minutes.  Cool completely before eating.

Alternately, one recipe will make 48 soft cookies.  Just use a #50 scoop to portion batter into cookie-like blobs on a silpat lined half sheet pan (about 1 tablespoon each).  Bake 12 per tray in a preheated 375F oven for 15 minutes.  Cool completely before eating.

I let the family sample these before announcing what they were made of - nobody could taste pumpkin, yet the pumpkin adds a cool, smooth, moist quality to the muffins.  They're dense, yet light at the same time - really hard to describe.  They're really affordable too - 12 large muffins cost less than $3 to make.

Update

If you're like me and prefer to to bake from scratch, this recipe (below) makes the equivalent of one box of cake mix.  I've used it to make these muffins a couple times and it works extremely well.

Homemade Chocolate Cake Mix

makes the equivalent of one 18.25-ounce box

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

• 1 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder (sifted to remove lumps)

• 1/4 cup shortening

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low speed until the mixture resembles a box of cake mix. Alternately, you can process the ingredients in a food processor.