Chocolate chip cookies

America’s classic chocolate chip cookies! Did you know their history dates back to the 1940s? When preparing these iconic cookies, it’s important to remember a few key rules to achieve perfect results: the butter should be very soft; the ratio of white to brown sugar is always 50:50 so the cookies are crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle, while the brown sugar also adds a lovely caramel flavour. Truly the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten – and the best I have baked. I tested this recipe many times. You will fall in love with them!

Makes 18.

Ingredients for chocolate chip cookies:

• 115 g butter
• 80 g caster sugar
• 80 g soft light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 200 g plain flour
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• a generous pinch of salt
• 150 g dark chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate

All ingredients should be at room temperature. The butter should be very soft – soft enough for a knife to pass through it without any resistance, like butter left on the kitchen worktop on a warm summer’s day. If it isn’t soft enough, place the room-temperature butter in the microwave for a few seconds at a time, until roughly one-third of it has melted.

Place the butter and both sugars in the bowl of a mixer. Beat briefly, just until combined – do not beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix briefly. Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt, and mix until just combined. Finally, add 110 g of the chocolate chips (reserving the rest for topping) and fold through with a spatula.

Line a large, flat baking tray with baking paper. Shape the dough into balls weighing approximately 35 g each. The easiest way to do this is to use an ice cream scoop. Place the balls on the baking tray, leaving several centimetres between them – they will spread considerably during baking, so there’s no need to flatten them. Sprinkle with the reserved chocolate chips or pieces of chocolate.

Bake the chocolate chip cookies at 175°C, using the fan setting, for about 10–11 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. The longer you bake them, the crispier they will be; cookies with a paler centre will be softer and chewier. The cookies will be very soft immediately after baking, so leave them on the tray for 30 minutes to cool, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely – this is when they reach the right texture. If you want perfectly round cookies, you can neaten up their shape immediately after taking them out of the oven, while they’re still soft. Simply place a round cookie cutter over each cookie and gently move it from side to side to shape the edges.

Store the chocolate chip cookies at room temperature for up to 7 days in an airtight tin or biscuit container.

Enjoy!