Soft American Cookies

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 270 g wheat flour or spelt flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder, to taste
• 225 g butter
• 150 g white sugar
• 190 g raw cane sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, large
• 300 g confectionery (XXL chocolate chips)

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 8 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 38 minutes

with chocolate pieces

Preheat the oven to 180°C. In a bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. In another bowl, combine the butter and both sugars. Beat on medium speed until fluffy. Continue beating on low speed, then add the salt, vanilla extract, and eggs. Beat until well blended. Add the flour mixture and fold in just briefly to prevent the gluten from binding too much. Stir in the chocolate chips. Let the batter stand in the refrigerator for about an hour. Drop tablespoon-sized heaps of batter onto the baking paper, about 10 cm apart. Bake for eight to ten minutes, until the cookies are golden brown around the edges but still soft on the inside. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool for one to two minutes, then let them cool completely on a wire rack. Important: After baking, remove them from the oven immediately and carefully place them on a wire rack or plate to cool, as they are still very soft and brittle. Don’t leave them on the hot baking sheet, as this will cause them to continue cooking. They will harden as they cool, but will remain nice and soft. When they are not too warm, I place them in layers on kitchen towels in the fridge so that the chocolate hardens more quickly. Note: The cookies will keep for up to a week in an airtight container or in the fridge. The amount of raw cane sugar is important because it contains molasses and makes the cookies tough. The more regular sugar there is, the firmer the cookies will be. The baking soda makes them expand, while the baking powder makes them bake a little. Without baking powder, they are flatter and more compact, giving them a more authentic feel. The teaspoon of salt is extremely important, otherwise they have no taste. For vanilla extract, I use “Bourbon Vanilla Extract from Real Vanilla Pods” from littlePod. This is also extremely important for the flavor. Large XXL chocolate chips are available from Ruf, for example.