How come my chocolate chip cookies always come out tasting pretty bland?
I soften the butter before I use it, I pack my brown sugar, I chill my dough before cooking, I use every ingredient exactly and yet they never taste quite right.
Does anyone have any childhood recipes or anything? These are the recipes I've tried.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/10813/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/
http://www.marthastewart.com/344840/soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies-recipe.html [pic related, which looks totally different]
I just remember them tasting better when I was a kid, more chocolatey and sugary I guess. And not so rounded.
It sounds like you just grew up and developed a big boy palate.
Don't look back to your childhood nostalgia, there's a whole world of interesting food out there.
>>7709887
ah, I suspected this was the case
oh well
Do you use Vanilla?
I add maple syrup sometimes.
make wholemeal ones with browned butter and dark chocolate
thank me later
Use more butter, better chocolate chips, and more sugar, faggot.
>>7709876
sounds like you need to add some salt or use better vanilla. try chef step's recipe.
You need some white sugar.
>>7709876
you are probably either not using enough sugar or not adding vanilla
>>7709876
I have some batter in my freezer from the first recipe you listed. They always taste great when I make them, I don't even pack the brown sugar. Make sure you chill the dough before baking or they'll end up too flat like yours. I use good vanilla as well.
It helps to use plain flour and baking powder separately measured in like the martha stewart recipe, and that your butter is fresh (old butter makes cookies go flat, I dunno why), and that your dough is chilled in the freezer (2-3 hrs) or fridge (overnight) before baking. I find that chilling your dough produces better cookies.
Note that baker's chocolate is different from the commercially made "choc chips", most premade "choc chips" are extremely waxy and contain low chocolate content.
Also, add a pinch of salt if the recipe doesn't call for it - salt enhances the flavours.
>>7710242
This. Whole wheat has more flavor, so will brown butter. Cheap chocolate is mostly sugar and doesn't have much flavor, I'll buy an 85% dark chocolate bar and chop it up instead. Adding a pinch of instant coffee to the dough can make chocolate taste stronger. Also, add more vanilla than what the recipe calls for.
>>7709876
But did you make them with love?
cookies, bleh
biscuits, mmmm
>>7710242
This is the correct answer. Especially the browning of the butter. Follow one of these recipes instead:
http://www.browneyedbaker.com/cooks-illustrated-perfect-chocolate-chip-cookies/
>>7709876
seriouseatsrecipe works best for me, if i had a gf shed fuck me for making them
>>7711621
Forgot the other one:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/12/the-food-lab-best-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe.html
>>7711362
chocolate chips have got glycerin added to it for the gooey texture after baking.
Add salt.
>>7712389
must be amurrcan
use salted butter
>>7712406
salt makes everything taste better to a point
>>7712406
this meme has got to end
>>7709876
Try these http://www.browneyedbaker.com/the-famed-neiman-marcus-cookie/
I omit the nuts and grated chocolate. The oat flour gives them a great body, chewiness, and more interesting taste. No need to chill dough or anything like that
>>7709876
>links to several recipes
>doesn't link to the original tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe
some people are really obsessed with doing things in life every way but the right way.
>>7712406
must be obsession!
>>7709876
Those look overcooked OP. Are you just balling doe onto the pan? Don't try to flatten them any.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/the-chewy-recipe.html
This is my favorite recipe.
they come out perfect every time. I never use another recipe.
Also the peanut butter tip is really good.
https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/chocolate-chip-cookies
>>7709876
Use real vanilla extract, not imitation vanilla.
Try sea salt, and a pinch more than the recipe calls for.
If you use nuts, toast them in the oven until they smell good first.
>>7713409
I've read that imitation vanilla is better for cooking because it stands up to heat better, but real vanilla is better if it's not being cooked. Not sure if it's true though.
>>7714301
that sounds like some imitation vanilla propaganda to me.
>>7714358
vanillin is better for things that get really hot like cookies, vanilla is better for things that don't get too hot like cakes and unbaked things.
>>7712150
If your chocolate chips are made of real chocolate - i.e. a combination of cacao butter and cacao solids, it should melt in your mouth and give you the gooeyness.
>>7714411
gooey as in the shiny melty goodness when you break a warm cookie in half
