Recipe: Sort Of Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies {Mrs. Fields}

Soft chocolate chip cookies that use pantry ingredients and are in your mouth in thirty minutes? Yes, please.

When Madeline was trying to figure out what she wanted for her birthday dinner, her dessert request was the same as last year. Soft chocolate chip cookies.

With a very heavy emphasis on the word soft.

And in my quest to fulfill my six year old’s wishes, because she doesn’t ask for much ever, I have been trying to find just the right cookie for her.

And we’ve gone through many, many recipes since then.

I swear if I never see a chocolate chip cookie again…

We’ve come close, but no cigar.

Today we got a lot closer.

Nick and I watch Supermarket Superstars sometimes, a reality competition where people compete to have their product added to the shelves of A&P supermarkets. One of the judges is Mrs. Fields, and I explained her background to Nick. How she was, um, much more relevant in the 80s and that every time I visited the mall with my friends in high school, we would splurge on one of her cookies, because they were so soft and amazing. My favorite was the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies.

Would probably still be my favorite today if, you know, I was eating cookies.

So then, of course, I started to think … I  need to search for a Mrs. Fields recipe for chocolate chip cookies, because I bet that will be just what Madeline is looking for.

Which brings me to tonight’s chocolate chip cookie iteration.

Madeline and I had a very full day today. Outside of school and work. She learned how to tie her shoelaces (seriously, Thank God. I may have just gained an extra 10-15 minutes of my day back), she requested a manicure, and after homework, she helped me make these cookies.

It’s good to be her.

Super simple to make using ingredients I am sure you have on hand already, I think the key to the softness of these cookies is the cold butter that is mixed into the batter. Out of all the bajillion cookie recipes I’ve made, it’s rare that I make one with cold cubed butter.

Madeline did all the scooping of the cookie batter, placing each one neatly on the cookie sheets, and waited patiently for them to come out of the oven. And for them to cool off enough to try. And as she took a bite, I held my breath and watched her face closely. A big smile spread across it and she gave me a thumbs up.

“Is this the one?” I asked.

Yep.

And I agree. I think they are everything you want from a soft chocolate chip cookie. Barely there crispy edges with a super soft center. Just the right amount of chocolate chips, to the point that Nick smelled them baking from upstairs and knew exactly what we were up to.

When we make them again, and I can guarantee we will, I will, however, underbake them by about a minute. Because as they sit on the wire rack to cool after baking, they *do* crisp up a little (as she was sure to point out to me when she went back for another after dinner). My theory is that by underbaking it slightly, we can avoid that and keep them soft for the long haul.

Or for however long the cookies last in this house.

Happy baking.

Mrs. Fields’ Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe courtesy of Yum Sugar

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup C & H dark brown sugar (firmly packed)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup cold salted butter, cut into cubes
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 300°F. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well with a wire whisk.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, blend the sugars at medium speed.

Add the cold butter, and mix to form a grainy paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs and vanilla extract, and mix at low to medium speed just until blended. Do not overmix.

Add the flour mix and chocolate chips, and blend at a low speed just until mixed. Do not overmix.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.

Bake 20-22 minutes until golden. Transfer cookies immediately to a cool surface with a spatula. You can line sheets with parchment and transfer to a cold surface to do it faster.