Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies. Soft, tender, melt in your mouth cookie. Cookies feature brown sugar and vanilla. Each bite packed with milk chocolate chips.
These cookies are at their best with high quality butter, and high quality milk chocolate, whether chips or chunks. The butter combined with the chocolate and the brown sugar, is what gives these cookies their signature flavor. The cookies bake up firm, but the texture when you bite into one is extremely soft. This is an excellent cookie right out of the oven, but equally as pleasing a few days later when flavors have melded.
As with any chocolate chip cookie, the chocolate should take center stage. Chocolate makers are creating milk chocolate varieties that include classic milk chocolate, dark milk chocolate, flavored milk chocolate, and milk chocolate employing different milks including goat’s and sheep’s milks; almond, coconut and rice milks.
Classic milk chocolate consists of cocoa, sugar, and milk powder. The smooth texture and rich flavor in good milk chocolate is a result of exceptional single origin or multiple origin chocolate combined with high-quality milk powder. The amount of cocoa in classic milk chocolate is 35-30%.
Dark milk chocolate employs a higher percentage of cocoa, up to 70%. Likewise, the chocolate has less milk powder and less sugar than classic milk chocolate. The higher cocoa percentage means the flavor profile of the cocoa is more pronounced and the subtle nuances and flavors are enjoyed on the palette.
Flavored milk chocolate is a trend that has emerged in the past decade or so. Artisan chocolate makers are adding freeze dried fruit, fruit purees, and pieces of fruit; nut butters and pastes; and dried spices. These artisan bars are more common in retail and online shopping experiences.
Our cookies start with sugar and butter being creamed until smooth. The vanilla bean paste and eggs are incorporated into the sugar mixture. The all-purpose and bread flours, baking powder and sea salt are whisked together and added to the sugar mixture to make a sweet cookie dough. The chocolate chips or chunks are the final addition. The dough is mixed by hand to ensure the chip have been thoroughly distributed throughout the dough. The dough is rolled into cylinders and chilled until firm.
Once the dough is chilled, cookie rounds are cut, placed on prepared cookie sheets and allowed to come up in temperature a bit. The cookies are baked in a preheated oven until the edges are golden.
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Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- two cookie sheets
Ingredients
- 230 grams all-purpose flour (1-3/4 cups)
- 170 grams bread flour (1-1/3 cups)
- 5 grams baking powder (1 teaspoon)
- 3 grams fine sea salt (1/2 teaspoon)
- 180 grams unsalted butter (1 stick + 5 tablespoons), softened
- 250 grams light brown sugar (1-1/4 cups)
- 100 grams granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
- 4 grams vanilla bean paste (1 teaspoon)
- 100 grams egg (2 large)
- 170 grams milk chocolate chips or chunks (6 ounces)
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Add all-purpose flour, bread flour, baking powder, and fine sea salt to medium mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Add unsalted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar to stand mixer. Using paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until smooth and pale, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add vanilla bean paste and beat for a few seconds. Add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition just until incorporated.
- Add flour mixture to stand mixer one cup at a time, and beat on low just until combined.
- Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. Add the chocolate chips to the cookie dough. Using your hands, a large spatula, or wooden spoon, incorporate the chocolate chips evenly through the cookie dough.
- Divide the dough into two pieces. Roll the dough into logs and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes, or overnight. I like to place the wrapped dough into round drinking glasses, so the dough doesn’t flatten when laid on a shelf.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove one cookie dough roll from the refrigerator. Unwrap and cut the dough into 1/3-inch thick rounds. Place 6 to 8 on a baking sheet. Let the cookies rest on the sheet while the oven preheats.
- If desired, sprinkle the cookies with a little flaky sea salt.
- The dough is forgiving, so you can mold the cookies into perfect rounds if they crumble or get a little out of shape when cutting rounds.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown. Remove cookies from oven and place on wire rack. Cool several minutes and then remove cookies from cookie sheets.
- Cookies are excellent warm or completely cooled.
- Store milk chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container for several days, or freeze up to one month.
