The BEST Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

• servings: 16 servings
• active time: 10 minutes
• total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups (250g) all-purpose flour

¾ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt (or ¾ tsp salt if using unsalted butter)

10 tbsp (140g) salted butter, (at room temperature)

¾ cup (165g) packed dark brown sugar

⅓ cup plus 1 tbsp (80g) granulated sugar

1 tsp (5ml) pure vanilla extract

1 tsp (5ml) honey or corn syrup

1 large egg, (at room temperature)

7 oz (200g) dark chocolate, (55-70% cocoa),

flaky sea salt

Directions

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to blend evenly.

Combine softened butter with both sugars and vanilla extract in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat by hand using the "creaming method" with a wide rubber spatula to smear the butter and sugar together and mix vigorously until smooth and slightly fluffed. If you use a stand mixer, secure the paddle attachment and beat on medium-low speed for 1-2 minutes. It should look more like a paste or damp sand rather than a very pale aerated mixture. You can also use a handheld mixer. Mix in honey. Add the egg and mix until well incorporated.

Add flour mixture to the butter mixture all at once and stir until most of the flour is absorbed. Before all of the flour is combined, add chocolate chunks and continue folding them in so they are evenly distributed. You should end up with a soft, moderately moist dough.

Place a piece of plastic wrap directly over the surface of the dough in the bowl and refrigerate for 8-24 hours for best results. Waiting this long will improve the flavor and texture of your cookies. If you simply just can't wait, then you can bake them after 4 hours of chilling, but 8 hours is best.

When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F and line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Use a 1 ½-oz cookie scoop to portion dough and roll into smooth balls. If the dough is too hard after chilling, let the dough stand at room temperature for 20-30 minutes to soften so it is easier to scoop. If you don't have a scoop, then divide the dough into 16 balls. Place them onto your prepared baking sheets spacing them 2 inches apart. Do not flatten.

NOTE: if you prefer slightly smaller cookies, divide the dough into 18 balls and bake for 1-2 minutes less.

Press a few extra chunks of chocolate on top of each dough ball and bake 6 cookies per baking sheet for 9-11 minutes until puffed, golden around the edges but still soft in the middle. Do not over-bake as they will continue to cook on the hot baking sheet. If you make smaller cookies, they will only need 8-10 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to a wire rack and let cookies cool on the trays for 2 minutes before carefully transferring individually to a wire rack to finish cooling. Sprinkle flaky sea salt on top while still warm if desired.