Did you know that the TV version of Alton Brown Chocolate Chip Cookies is different than the one published online? Get the recipe that actually works!
The Alton Brown Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe That Actually Works
(...and why his doesn't, if you follow the TV directions.)
On the morning of New Year's Eve, I had a hankering for some really thick, really chewy chocolate chip cookies. What better way to ring in the new year than a pile of chocolate chip cookies, right?
So, although I already had a recipe for thin and chewy chocolate chip cookies (and even a recipe for whole wheat chocolate chip cookies), I decided to search for a new recipe. One that would produce luxuriously thick yet still chewy cookies.
In my search, I found many references to the Alton Brown Chocolate Chip Cookies, particularly the "Chewy" recipe. This recipe was one of three chocolate chip cookie recipes that appeared in an episode of Good Eats titled "Three Chips for Sister Marsha," in which Alton made a chewy chocolate chip cookie, a puffy chocolate chip cookie, and a thin chocolate chip cookie.
I carefully read through the reader reviews of each recipe on the Food Network website, quickly discarding the "thin" cookie recipe and focusing in on the puffy versus the chewy.
The puffy chocolate chip cookies didn't seem to fit the bill. They were made with butter-flavored shortening (I'm an "real butter" gal, myself) plus cake flour, indicating that these cookies would be more on the cake-like and tender side.
Zeroing in with laser-like intensity on the chewy recipe, I noticed a certain trend in the reviews. Astute readers had noticed that the online recipe in written form differed from the recipe demonstrated on TV.
What's different in the video than in the written recipe published on the Food Network website? I'll tell you.
- In the video, the measurements are given by volume (i.e. cups) rather than weight.
- The written recipe whisks the liquid ingredients together before adding them to the mixing bowl. In the video version, Alton just throws them in.
- In the video, we see Alton pop the cookies directly into the oven. In the written recipe, we're instructed to chill the dough for an hour before baking.
- The dough in the video looks remarkably firm, when in fact the dough (when made according to the written recipe) is extremely soft and gooey.
- In the written recipe, there are some instructions regarding placing oven racks at the top and bottom of the oven and baking multiple sheets at the same time. In the video, the rack is located in the bottom third of the oven, and only one baking sheet at a time goes in the oven (and that one sheet is specifically limited to just 6 cookies).
Needless to say, these inconsistencies caused consternation among the reviewers. Bakers who followed the multiple rack instructions were often disappointed by inconsistently baked cookies. I found this to be true not only for the reviewers on the Food Network site, but also on various blogs in which a blogger tested out the Alton Brown chocolate chip cookies.
Others who skipped chilling the dough found that their cookies spread too much, preventing them from being as thick as desired.
In order to troubleshoot these issues, I went to work on reverse engineering what the culinary authorities had to say about chocolate chip cookie recipes.
By doing so, I found a pattern of what works to make chocolate chip cookies properly chewy and thick.
Here's the list.
What Makes a Chocolate Chip Cookie Chewy
- Brown sugar.
- Using bread flour, which has more gluten, which adds chewiness.
- Including enough liquid to activate the gluten in the flour.
- Chilling the dough to give it time to develop the gluten.
Source: ChefTalk. The debate on ChefTalk demonstrates that some of the very things that encourage chewiness also encourage spreading. Leading us to the next point...
How to Keep Chocolate Chip Cookies Thick by Preventing Spreading
- Not adding too much butter or sugar; both can cause spreading.
- Chilling the dough.
- Raising the oven temperature slightly.
- Not greasing the pans. Using parchment or Silpats.
- Avoiding baking powder.
- Not overbeating (it adds air, which causes spreading).
Sources: David Lebovitz and Sweetopia.
Now that we know how to keep chocolate chip cookies both thick and chewy, which of Alton's recipes do you follow? The TV recipe, or the written recipe?
After studying both, I went with the TV version of the ingredients because it uses volume measurements. After all, not everyone has a kitchen scale. I used the instructions from both sources that most closely fit with what we already know about what makes cookies both thick and chewy.
To be on the safe side: I whisked the liquids before adding to the bowl, I chilled the dough, and I only baked one cookie sheet at a time.
Why the TV Recipe for Alton Brown's Chocolate Chip Cookies Failed
You can see for yourself how the first attempt turned out: flat as a pancake.
What the heck happened? They're flat, greasy, and spread all over the place. Not a bit like the thick cookies pictured on Food Network.
A closer look at the recipes revealed a big problem. The video calls for 2 ¼ cups of flour. The written recipe calls for 12 ounces. Guess what? 12 ounces does not equal 2 ¼ cups! It's actually closer to 2 ¾ cups.
That much of a difference in flour makes a huge difference in how cookies turn out. So, even if you followed the recipe exactly, you'd end up with flat and greasy cookies because there's simply not enough flour in the recipe.
That explains why my cookie dough was wet and gooey, and why the cookies looked like they'd been run over.
How I Fixed the Problem with the Alton Brown Chocolate Chip Cookies TV Recipe
The next round, I used the weight measurements, and the cookies came out like this.
See? Enough flour equals thick and chewy cookies. Since most of us measure with cups, I've carefully measured the true and correct amount of flour needed for this recipe, so you can be confident that it will work. I've also added a little garnish that I learned from the famous New York Times chocolate chip cookies: salt! Trust me when I say that salt is magical on chocolate chip cookies.
Alton, and Food Network, if you're listening: please test your recipes before airing them on national television. My recipe testing rates are reasonable, so just have your people call my people. I'll be waiting by the phone.
Dear reader, if you enjoyed this recipe exploration, you'll also enjoy my investigation into Chick-fil-A lemonade, which includes the most accurate recipe for recreating it at home. You might also be entertained by learning the true origin of "slutty" brownies.
Thanks for stopping by!
- Katie
Alton Brown Chocolate Chip Cookies
Did you know that the TV version of Alton Brown Chocolate Chip Cookies is different than the one published online? Get the recipe that actually works!
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter equal to two sticks, or 16 tablespoons
- 2 ½ cups bread flour plus more, see next line down
- 3 tablespoons bread flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus extra for garnish
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions
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Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Set aside to cool slightly.
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Sift the all of the flour, baking soda, and salt together into a bowl. Set aside.
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In a pourable bowl or cup, whisk together the egg, the yolk, the milk, and the vanilla extract until combined. Set aside.
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Add the melted butter to the work bowl of your stand mixer. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
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Reduce speed to low and slowly pour in the liquid mixture. Mix for about 30 seconds, or until incorporated.
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Add the flour mixture a little at a time (still on low speed), stopping to scrape down the sides of the work bowl occasionally, until incorporated. Don't overmix. The cookie dough will be very soft and gooey.
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Stop the mixer. Add the chocolate chips to the work bowl and stir in. Press plastic wrap to the top of the cookie dough to prevent drying, and seal the top of the bowl with more plastic wrap to make sure the batter doesn't dry out. Chill in the refrigerator for one hour.
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Preheat to 375 F. Scoop out 1 ½ ounce portions of cookie dough on parchment paper lined cookie sheets (limit the number of cookies to 6 per sheet). The cookie dough mounds should be tall, not flattened (the shape of short cylinders standing on end works best). Garnish each mound with a little sea salt, very gently pressing the salt on to make it stick.
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Bake for about 15 minutes. Slide the cookies on the parchment on to racks to cool.
Recipe Notes
Measure carefully for best results. For flour, baking soda, or salt, gently spoon it into the measuring cup or spoon, then level the top by scraping across with a knife. For brown sugar, fill the measuring cup and very gently press down to lightly pack it in.
Is it possible to just use a wooden spoon to mix given that you are using melted butter and there is no need to cream it with sugar?
Hi Yvonne,
Yes, it's possible to use a spoon. The difference that a mixer makes is that it beats more air into the batter (even with melted butter), leading to loftier cookies. But a spoon should work well enough if you still follow the mixing times and instructions using arm power.
Thanks for stopping by!
Best,
Katie
The recipe calls for Brown Sugar. The last time I looked, there were 2 types of Brown Sugar in the market. I assume from the pictures, you meant Light Brown Sugar.
Yes, light brown sugar is correct. I'll update the recipe too.
Another suggestion. I believe that kosher salt is too coarse to run through a flour sifter. I would suggest that you have the responders whisk the flour mixture. When I tried the flour sifter, it made a lot of noise and scattered some salt on the floor. Most of the recipes on the Food Network entry reccomend a whisk. The recipe is fantastic and the cookies are very delicious.
I am an 80 year old man who has made a hobby of baking cookies. When I was a teen ager i made a recipe of my mother's for Oatmeal Raisin walnut cookies. The recipe got lost when my mother passed and I left for college all in one summer. I did remember the key ingredients which were the spice mix.
Chewy Oatmeal / Raisin / Walnut Cookies
Ingredients:
1 C. Unsalted Butter (2 sticks) at room temperature 1⁄2 C. Packed Light Brown Sugar
1 C. Granulated Sugar
I Large Egg*
1 large Egg Yolk
1⁄4 C. Buttermilk
1⁄2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
1 1⁄2 C. Bread Flour
1 C. All-Purpose Flour
1 1⁄2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1⁄2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1⁄2 tsp. Ground Ginger
1⁄2 tsp. Ground Nutmeg
1⁄4 tsp Ground Cloves
2 C. Old Fashioned Oats
Option: Mix 2 C. Old Fashioned Oats with 1 tbls. melted unsalted butter and toast for 15 minutes in a 300 F oven. Stir about every 5 minutes. (Cool before using)
1 C. Raisins
Plump the Raisins by heating for 1-2 minutes in a Microwave (Cool Before Using)
1⁄2 C. Chopped Walnuts
Mixing Procedure:
In a stand mixer (Using a flat beater) cream together the butter and sugars until smooth.
Slowly add the wet ingredients until the wet ingredients are completely incorporated.
Whisk the dry ingredients until they are completely blended together. - 37 -
Add the dry ingredients to the mix about 1 Cup at a time. Blend each addition until it is completely incorporated. Start the blending on low speed to avoid spilling the flour.
Mix in the Oatmeal, Raisins and Walnuts on slow speed until the they are uniformly dispersed.
Let the mixture stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes before making the dough balls. This reduces the stickiness of the mixture.
Baking Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Make the dough balls with either a #30 or a#40 Disher . The number on the Disher refers to an old measurement of Ice Cream Scoops. The number refers to the number of level full scoops of Ice Cream you could get out of one quart.
The #40 Disher will yield about 4 dozen cookies per batch. the #30 Disher will yield about 2 1⁄2 dozen cookies and the # 40 Disher will Yield about4 dozen cookies.
Place the dough on a parchment lined baking sheet. Space them about 2 - 2 1⁄2 inches apart for a #40 Disher and about 2 1⁄2 - 3 inches apart for a # 30 Disher.
Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Leave the cookies on the cookie sheet for about 1-2 minutes and then place on a wire cooling rack.
Freezing Procedure:
If you desire, you may place the formed dough on a parchment lined sheet pan as close together as possible and place them in the freezer. Once frozen (10-12 hrs.) place them in a re-sealable plastic bag and store them in the freezer. Bake then directly from the freezer. Add 1-2 minutes to the baking time.
The Bread Flour and the missing egg white help to make the cookies chewy.. You may publish this recipe if you think that it is good enough to put your name on it.
I think you're right about the whisk- I'll have to try that out the next time I make these. And thank you so much for the recipe! I'm excited to try it. Family recipes are the best.
I just made these and they came out great! I have no mixer and used becel vegan margarine, Costco soymilk and 4 large blocks of Chinese brown sugar.
Even with no mixer they turned out chewy!
Yay! I'm always happy to hear when a recipe worked out well. Glad you enjoyed it, and thank you so much for stopping by!
I love chocolate chip cookies and prefer that they be perfect so thanks for your detective work. I wish you would also have included weights as well as volume. I've become so used to weighing ingredients that I lose a bit of confidence when working only with volume which can vary so much from one person to another. I think most people these days have a kitchen scale.
That's an excellent idea. The next time I make this recipe, I'll record the weights.
BIG NOPE! I followed the instructions to a T and they turned out cakey/fluffy with very little chewiness, and honestly, not even good enough to keep (I've never had to throw cookies away before, but after they cooled, the texture was pretty awful).
it's probably user error, but I sure don't know what happened. thanks for the sleuthing/experimenting to figure the recipe out, though. sure wish it would have worked for me.
take care.
This right here is my favorite: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015819-chocolate-chip-cookies
For super chewiness, swap the cake flour out of that recipe and just use bread flour for all of the flour measurements. Make sure you let the dough rest overnight before baking. Superb cookies! The best ever.
Alton's does turn out a bit cakey for my taste, honestly.
oh, ok! I'm glad to hear that! I thought I was going crazy and was having a bit of a culinary panic attack.
thanks so much for the link! I'll give those a try on my next batch. I hate to admit it, but I've been stuck on Great American Cookie's chewy fudge supreme (next time you're at the mall, give it a try). anyway, I've been looking for THAT kind of chewiness and I'm in search of that perfect texture with a chocolate chip version.
thanks again, Katie!
Thanks for the research! Do your volume measurements match the food network's weight measurements? I prefer to use a scale.
Yes. I derived my own recipe volume measurements by using the weight measurements from the Food Network, then transferring those ingredients to volume measuring cups and spoons. The weight measurements from the Food Network are correct; their volume measurements, on the other hand, were not.
Made exactly* as directed, although my oven was kicking them out in 12 minutes.
Chewy, not cakey at all, perfect.
*was in a hurry so I had to make do with AP flour, oh and kosher salt instead of sea salt which I also didn't have on hand.
Is there a reason you doubled the butter? The Alton Brown website only calls for 8 oz. I really appreciate you taking time to convert the weights!
It's not doubled. 8 ounces butter (the original measurement from the Alton Brown website) = 2 sticks, or 16 tablespoons, or 1 cup. Being that it's early and my coffee is just kicking in, I double-checked to make sure: https://www.nigella.com/ask/measuring-butter
Can this be made as a pan cookie and cut into bars. If so what are the baking instructions.
I'm sure they could be baked in a pan, but I'm not sure if they would be sturdy enough to cut into bars. They turn out a bit on the softer side.
So where are your weights? Your reply to a previous post said you would update this recipe with weights when you used this recipe again, I guess you never did. In another reply you said the weights in the written Food Network recipe are correct, so why not just put them here? Also, I'd very much want to know what brand flour you use. It's quite frustrating that a cup of one brand's flour does not weigh as much as other brand. In any event, I do appreciate your post!
Never got to make this recipe again because I became severely gluten intolerant. 🙁 So this particular recipe kind of gathered dust because of that. Sorry about that! At the time of this making this recipe, I used King Arthur brand bread flour. Honestly, I think the New York Times chocolate chip cookie recipe is way better than Alton's. That became my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe before I had to stop eating gluten - now I make a gluten free version.
Sorry to hear you became gluten intolerant, that's a bummer. I've made the NY Times recipe, and some others but after making Alton's chewy recipe several more times I have it down pat. 12 oz bread flour, weighed then put through a strainer. Don't use high-fat butter, refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour. Weigh the dough balls as you note, but for me 46g works best. And don't roll them too much, just a squeeze or two. One baking sheet (shiny aluminum) at a time, on the lower rack. After 6 minutes, turn the pan, then 6 more minutes. Perfect very time! Well, close to perfect!
do you have these in metric measurement? like in grams or oz? thanks!