As you know, we LOVE cookies. And we are always looking for the best cookie recipe and when we stumbled upon Hugs and Cookies recipe, we had a good feeling.

The secret to her perfect cookies, is raising the base temperature of the oven and then lowering it as soon as the cookies go in to the oven. Because of this, it makes the outside of the cookie slightly crunchy and the inside is a gooey mess of deliciousness. When the cookies come out of the oven, they almost look like they are blushing. I kid you not. Blushing cookies. You will thank us, and then you will thank Hugs and Cookies, we certainly do! These are by far some of the best chocolate chip cookies we have ever made!

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The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients 

• 2 1/4 cups AP flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 12 tablespoons butter (room temperature)
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup bittersweet or dark chocolate chips (Ghiradhelli or Guittard)

Step 1: 

Sift together the AP flour and baking soda, and then mix in the salt. Stir until combined and set aside.

Step 2: 

In a mixer (stand or by hand) mix together the butter and sugars until blended.

Step 3: 

Add the vanilla, egg and yolk and blend until creamy.

Step 4: 

Mix in the flour mixture until just combined. Do not over-mix! Next stir the chocolate chips in by hand.

Step 5: 

This step is important: you must chill your dough for at least 3 hours. We know, it sucks to wait, but this step really does pay off. Go watch a movie or binge watch your favorite show. OR clean the kitchen, or you can do what Peaches did and take a nap. Also, don’t forget to cover your dough with plastic wrap.

Step 6: 

While the dough is chilling, line your cookie sheet with parchment paper. We always spray the sheet with Pam first and then line with parchment, this prevents the parchment from moving around.

Step 7: 

Just before the dough is nice and chilled preheat your oven to 425°. Using a scoop or a spoon measure out 1.5 to 2 ounce cookie balls. Place on the sheet.

Step 8: 

As soon as you put the cookies in the oven immediately lower the temperature to 375°. According the the original recipe (and us as testers) this sets a “base” heat, that cooks the cookie quicker but giving it that nice crust on the edge and keeps the inside moist and gooey! Bake for 9 minutes to 10 minutes. We always say under-bake your cookies just a little bit, that really helps achieve that gooey center.

Step 9: 

When the cookies are done, let them cool on the cookie sheet and then transfer them to a cooling rack. Repeat step 8 until all the dough is baked. Remember to raise the temperature back to 425° and lower when the cookies are in the oven.

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