Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soooooooo, I'm now obsessed. With making thick and chewy cookies. You know you have a problem when you get a craving for a cookie and end up having all of the ingredients in your kitchen for one mighty fine cookie. My mom doesn't even have flour in her pantry (I looked this past weekend). Clearly I did not get the baking gene from her.

I only had 1 stick of butter in my frigidaire, so I had to modify a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe a bit. And I threw in some leftover caramel bits from my a-mazin'  turtle cookies. I also used the rest of the Callebaut semi-sweet chocolate chunks I had in the cupboard. I can buy them in bulk at Central Market here in Dallas, but any chocolate you like will work. The result.... 100% delicious.

Do you ever wander how bakeries get those cookbook worthy looking cookies? I know how! I'll share my secret:

Start with a ball of dough

Pull the ball in 2 pieces

Turn the jagged edges up

"Smoosh" the two halves together

Place on the baking sheet with the jagged edges pointing up

And as a result you will/should get something like this......

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

yields approximately 22 cookies

These oversized cookies are chewy and thick, like many of the chocolate chip cookies sold in gourmet shops and cookie stores. They rely on melted butter and an extra egg yolk to keep their texture soft. To ensure the proper texture, cool the cookies on the baking sheet.

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (10 5/8 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup packed (7 ounces) light brown sugar
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 - 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup caramel bits

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.

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

3. Mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips to taste.

4. Roll 2 ounces (2 heaping tablespoons) of dough into a ball. Hold the dough ball with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough’s uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart.

5. Bake until the cookies are light golden grown and the outer edges just start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 14 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a spatula.