LOL, Linelle! I haven't "known" CEFreeman for more than a few weeks, but she will likely come to mind whenever I see chocolate chip cookie dough.

I wonder if she will share? That looks so good!

If she doesn't get over here soon, I will have just about finished it all by myself. I usually never add nuts to chocolate chip cookies (heresy!) but I had some toasted pecans so I tossed them in.

[moan]

I was out all day with errands and an interview for a 2nd job. Oh, that looks SO wonderful!

There is nothing like homemade, real cookie dough!
ooooohhhhhhh

It's so nice to be thought of. :)
I hope your 'dough made your day great!

Cookies had to be baked. :( I set aside a few dough balls for noshing. They're infinitely better than the finished product. Hope the interview went well.

LOl!
I forgot about that.
I should hear from the lady today. It's another restaurant job, so there's no pressure.

I need to break down and actually make cookie dough. It's infinitely better than the tubs. Although, I'll slum it and tub in a pinch.

Enjoy both.
And thanks again for thinking of me!

Although the cookies are delish (1 cup of butter will do that), they flattened out more than I like. It seems so unpredictable. I wonder if I need just a smidge more flour. I don't like cake-like cookies, must be chewy, but I like them when they have some mass.

I experimented for years trying to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, one that didn't flatten, one that wasn't too crisp, etc. One day I ended up trying the recipe on the package of Land o Lakes butter and haven't looked back (although you do need to add salt to the recipe). It's perfect! It has both baking soda and baking powder, which might be the reason.

This one?

http://www.landolakes.com/recipe/1253/five-star-chocolate-chip-cookies

Yes, that's it!! Although I see that they have salt as an ingredient now. In the one I have, salt is not listed, I added it myself, everything else is exactly the same. The recipe I have is several years old though (printed on the inside of the butter box) so maybe they realized that they left the salt out!!

Side note: I use waaayyyy more chocolate chips than the recipe calls for:)

lcskaisgir, thanks for the link to the recipe. I will try it. In doing a little mental math it seems the prime differences are proportionally more flour and adding baking powder. And one less egg. I would probably cut this recipe in half. The photo shows what I want my cookies to look like. I know it can be done:

I've been making chocolate chip cookies for over 60 years. In college I would make them for anyone (usually guys) who would bring over the butter and chips. I can make them without looking at a recipe. But I'm not digging the flattened cookie and that can happen despite my best efforts. I always chill the dough first and put unflattened balls on the cookie sheets so they don't get a head start.

I earnestly tried the recipe from America's Test Kitchen where you brown the butter and do this beat/rest routine that takes a lot of time. First time it turned out like the photo above, but only that once.

I do use salted butter because I think it tastes better. That's probably very provincial of me. Also, I never grease cookie sheets and they never stick.

Linelle, try freezing your chocolate chips. I do that with mine, and the cool chips seem to keep them from spreading.

Errant, freezing the chips before they get added to the dough? I always make my dough anywhere from a couple of hours to the day before and use cold dough balls, which in theory should help keep the cookies from spreading.

What's odd is that they don't spread that much during baking. When they come out of the oven they look perfect. But as they cool they FLATTEN. The flat part is what I'm trying to avoid. On the other hand, freeze those flattened cookies and eat them while still frozen. Best thing that ever happened to a chocolate chip cookie!

And now I am seriously jonesing for a dough fix.

Gone are the days of refrigerating dough, freezing chips, or any other techniques so the cookies don't spread! Give the LOL recipe a try:)

lcskaisgir, LOL!!! I will definite use that recipe next time. And always use Ghirardelli chocolate chips. All those years I used Nestle and now they taste like perfume to me compared to Ghirardelli.

BTW, not sure what your nick means, but I always read it as "lackadaisical girl."

It may as well be "lackadaisical girl"!! But it's actually not that creative. It's my first two initials and my last name.

And now I'm thinking of chocolate chip cookies again...sigh:)

My cookies never turn out either. I do everything right and yet they don't really taste that good. I don't think store bought ones do either with some of them being truly awful. They seem tasteless or are greasy to the point of being gross. I like crispy cookies not cake like cookies best.

I think it's because ingredients have changed. Flour isn't really the flour we grew up with anymore and who knows what else. Nothing seems to taste the same as back in the day. I get discouraged spending time making things using up a week's calories and not even really enjoying it that muchâ¦boo hoo I will try that recipe you posted lc.

Linelle, your kitty is so adorable. It looks like he/she is concentrating on how to get one of those cookies back to a safe place!

I've had the best luck with non-spreading cookies if I use half butter and half shortening. (Or all shortening, but then they don't taste as good. But butter-flavored shortening works if you want to give it a try.) All butter, and they always spread/flatten out. Good luck!

jill314, I used to use a Crisco recipe where I used half butter, half Crisco. I think they did have a better shape and texture, but the taste suffered a bit. To me a full-bore butter taste is really important. However, I do compromise when I make pie crust and use a little Crisco, since it really gives it the flakiness while butter imparts flavor. Still, flavor always wins.

erm. Yes, so. Have y'all seen this very exhaustive exploration of what makes cookies crumble and spread?

Here is a link that might be useful: food lab - chocolate chip cookies

Rachel, my mind is blown. Can't wait to try this recipe! Oh yeah, I have to wait, my ovens are on my kitchen floor...

I just tried the Lake O'Lakes chocolate cookie recipe and I have to say, IT IS HORRIBLE!!! OMG, embarrassingly bad.

Fortunately I only made half a recipe or I'd have double the number of awful cookies and be twice as mad. Yes, I know how to halve a recipe. :)

I think the culprit is way too much flour. No wonder they don't spread and flatten. But even the flat cookies taste good. These are just not good. Ugh.

I'm shocked that you find them embarrassingly bad. To me they taste the same as any other chocolate chip cookie such as the nestle recipe except they come out with a perfect consistency instead of spreading. Oh well, I will continue to make them and enjoy them thoroughly.

Mmmm...cc cookie dough...
My go to recipe can be made 2 x a week..depends on the boys noshing mood or if I haven't baked something else.

Quick..because they use browned butter..so if I need to make a batch I can do it while I'm working on dinner.."chill the dough" while were eating..and I'm baking while washing up dinner dishes and making the next days lunches.

lcskaisgir, if you like them, then you should enjoy them and that's all that matters.

I have a feeling the baking powder is partly responsible, but the amount of flour seems massive. The dough was stiff and dry. They didn't want to brown. I'm often guilty of slightly undercooked cookies but it was hard to tell with these with the lack of browning. When they cooled, they turned hard. The aftertaste may be the worst part...too much soda/powder I think.

terri, do you use the recipe from America's Test Kitchen?