Super Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Do I need another chocolate chip cookie recipe? Probably not. But do I need another chocolate chip cookie method? maybe! (Off to an obviously extremely optimistic start, right? Just bear with)

I only realised the other day that I pretty much forget about adapting the method when it comes to changing recipes, I'd never really thought about how it might affect the finished product, but after food tech revision (interspersed with many a tea break) making simple chocolate chip cookie dough turned into more of a science experiment - with chocolatey results!

I was planning on making pretty normal cookie dough at 10 pm-ish, but I got super distracted by my favourite comedian, Simon Amstell,  on tv. Thus, it was 11 pm when I actually made the cookie dough (in the semi-dark because I could only be bothered to turn on the tiny light on the extractor) which may have been the reason that I randomly decided to try slightly pre cooking some of the ingredients. The darkness factor meant that I also added milk chocolate chips to the cookie dough, so in the morning when I went to get the cookie dough, I was all like "What the what?" - I simply resolved this issue by adding semi-sweet chocolate chips too...

Anyway, I had the butter browned and mixed with the sugars, syrup, cornstarch and egg, when it occurred to me that the reason that people put instant pudding mixture into their cookies, is because it contains modified starch, which doesn't need to be heated in order to thicken (yeah, food tech knowledge bombs for ya ), so when it's mixed into the cookie dough, it makes it thick and stops it from spreading as much.

However, I didn't have modified cornstarch, or instant pudding, so I just heated the mixture on the stove for a little bit whilst stirring, like when you make a sauce. This thickened the mixture slightly, and also gave it a slightly caramelised aroma.

The other thing that made the cookies chewy was the use of pure almond butter in place of some butter - it has more solids in it than butter so adds fat, but also adds bulk. *However, if you don't have almond butter or are allergic to nuts, just leave it out and increase the butter to 3/4 cup.

Super Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes around 30 cookies
adapted from my Soft Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe

1/2 cup (4 oz / 100g) butter
3/4 cup (6 oz / 170g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (5 oz / 140g) packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (4 tbsp) golden syrup / corn syrup / agave syrup
1 tbsp corn starch
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup (5 tbsp + 1 tsp) almond butter* (no sugar or salt added)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups (9.7 oz / 290g) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup (7oz / 200g) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, continue cooking it over a medium flame until it foams and becomes slightly darker with a nutty smell. Take it off the heat and stir in the sugars, syrup and cornstarch.
Let the mixture cool a bit, then quickly stir in the egg and egg yolk.
Return the pan back to the stove, and cook the mixture over a medium heat for 3 minutes, whilst stirring constantly - scraping the bottom and sides of the pan - with a silicon spatula, making sure it doesn't burn.
Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes, then stir in the almond butter, vanilla and salt until smooth.
Add the flour, baking soda and baking powder and stir it in until fully combined.
When the mixture is completely cool, mix in the chocolate chips, then let the dough rest in the fridge over night, or for about 12 hours.

Preheat the oven to 320 degrees F (170 degrees C), and line a cookie tray with baking paper. Let the dough sit at room temperature for 20 minutes to soften a bit. Take 2 heaped tbsp of cookie dough, roll into a ball and flatten on the cookie tray - the dough doesn't flatten or spread much when it is baked. Bake the cookies for 6-8 minutes (they should be cooked around the edges but soft in the centre).
Let the cookies cool on the tray for 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.