I'm a Chewy Cookie Convert

I used to wonder why do Americans (and other angmohs) love soft chewy cookies. All my life, I have always eaten crunchy cookies. Aren't cookies supposed to be  crunchy?

They get soft when left exposed in our humid tropical climate (or if your container is not airtight). These "lau hong" or "masuk angin" cookies are terrible. They will put a scowl on my face.

So I scoffed at "soft chewy cookies". And then I started baking and delighted in the discovery that cookies are so easy to bake. Butter, sugar, eggs and flour. Mix them up by hand, toss in some chocolate chips and bake. 

All that time, I baked my cookies to death so that they were crunchy. That was until one day when I attempted a recipe for chewy cookies just because.

I admit, it wasn't love at first soft bite. But it gradually grew on me and now my friends, I get it. Some cookies are great crunchy while some are awesome chewy. Especially when they are chewy and soft with melted chocolate bits in between.

Now that I eat my words, I also eat soft chewy cookies on a regular basis. I found this recipe for Chewy Chocolate Chunk Cookies on Sally's Baking Addiction and made the dough a day ahead and chilled it in the fridge overnight.

The next day, all I had to do was bring the dough out (to soften a little) and bake away. So easy! I put a whole bar of chopped up dark chocolate into the dough and baked me up a very luxurious batch of cookies. Crispy on the edges, soft and chewy in the center with dark melted chocolate. Heavenly!

There's a caveat though. I only love them freshly baked and warm when the edges are still crispy. When cold, ugh! No thank you!

Chewy Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Recipe source : Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients :

- 280g self-raising flour

- 1.5 tsp cornflour

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 170g butter, melted

- 135g brown sugar

- 100g caster sugar

- 1 large egg+1 egg yolk

- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

- 250g dark chocolate bar, chopped into smaller pieces

Method :

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk flour and cornflour. Set aside.

2. In another bowl, whisk melted butter with both sugars until well mixed.

3. Add egg and egg yolk and continue to mix.  Then add vanilla extract and mix until everything is emulsified.

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour and use a spatula to mix and form a dough.

5. Add the chopped chocolate and continue to mix until the dough comes together.

6. Chill the dough for a few hours or overnight to firm up because the dough is very soft.

7. Before baking, take the dough put from the fridge for about 15 minutes or until dough is soft enough to handle.

8. Form balls (size is up to you) and place on a lined baking tray and bake for about 12 minutes or until the edges are browned.

9. Remove from oven and leave to cool for a while on the tray before transferring to cool completely on a wire rack.