Have you ever seen those chocolate chip cookie recipes with pudding mix added to them? It’s the cornstarch in the pudding that makes the cookies extra soft. Adding cornstarch and cream cheese to this recipe gives me a cookie that’s nice and soft. Because of that, I like to chop up the chocolate on the small side so that larger chunks of firm chocolate don’t overwhelm the texture of the soft cookie. (That’s one way I think they could really improve the Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars. Amazing product with a great flavor combination, but the white chocolate pieces are too large and hard and should be chopped smaller for such a soft bar.)
Because I have a love for baking, I do seek out ingredients online that I cannot get in the store. Valrhona is just one of many brands with wonderful products and their pistoles (the name for their particular bean-shaped chocolate pieces) are one of my favorite. Therefore, these particular chips are more unusual but you can obviously use whatever type of chips you like. I still suggest you chop them up a bit, though, whatever you end up using.
Remember also that chocolate chips are formulated to hold that particular shape. They usually have less cocoa butter in them so that they can do that. When you cut up chocolate for your cookies from bars, wafers or pistoles, you’ll get a more melty chocolate experience. Therefore, it’s up to your taste.
Soft Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (22.50 oz. as weighed)
- 1 cup salted butter (softened)
- 4 oz. cream cheese (softened)
- 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar (packed)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
- 4 tsp. cornstarch
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 tsp. sea salt
- 2 1/2 cups chocolate chips or chunks (2 1/2 to 3 cups, see Recipe Notes)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, weigh or measure out the flour and add the cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Blend out any lumps, especially with the baking soda, and set it aside.
- Chop up any chocolate that you need to and set it aside. These Valrhona pistoles are not only delicious but their flattened shape makes them easier to chop without flinging bits of chocolate all over my kitchen.
- In a large bowl, add the butter, cream cheese and both sugars. With an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, blend them all on Medium-High speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and blend another minute.
- Add the powders and chips and mix until just combined, about 1 minute, folding it in the rest of the way by hand. Use a #40 cookie scoop (see Recipe Notes) and scoop them into balls, placing them on a wax-lined sheet pan. You should yield about 52 cookies. Refrigerate or freeze them until firm. You can bake these from the fresh dough, also, as they don't spread that much. I like to freeze all of my leftover cookie dough for baking as few as I like, later on. I freeze the dough on the sheet pan, first, and then I put the dough into freezer bags and back into the freezer.
- Bake at 350F for about 8 to 9 minutes, just until they look set and are starting to crack on top and getting lightly golden on the bottoms. Don't overbake them as they taste better just a bit underdone. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing and transferring them to a rack to finish cooling.
