The time has finally come. I have been making cookies from scratch since I was twelve and I know there are some people who have been waiting for me to spill my cookie making secrets for years. To be honest, making chocolate chip cookies from scratch is how I made friends in high school.
I would make about six dozen chocolate chip cookies every other Friday, and as soon I would step into class, I would get swarmed with people trying to reach into my cookie bag. My cookies were so good, these kids would take like 8 at a time (I’m looking at you, Jacob, Miguel, and Kevin!) Full disclosure, you probably shouldn’t eat more than 3 of these cookies in a single sitting… they are just so rich and chocolatey and full of delicious wonders, you might enter a dessert coma.
The Secret
Now, I feel I must let others know my cookie recipe has changed throughout the years. I like to experiment and change things up, hoping to create the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe. The recipe in this article has been adapted, but it is very similar and even more tasty than the recipe I made in high school. This recipe is also based on the Copycat Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. In my recipe, I choose to use almond flour. I did this one day because I simply did not have enough all-purpose four, and I really wanted some cookies. Low and behold, I made the best batch of cookies I had ever made. As an added plus, almond flour is gluten-free! If almond flour isn’t your thing, all-purpose flour can be substituted with no problem.
One thing I have noticed making cookies throughout the years is that even if the recipe is the same, the cookies can come out differently based on the oven you are using. Not too sure how this happens, but it is just something to take into consideration. Before you even start making the cookies, it is imperative that you set out your butter and your eggs a few hours in advance. This way the butter and eggs have time to warm up to room temperature before you begin.
Mix Wet Ingredients
Now, let’s begin! Begin by mixing your butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a mixer. I use my kitchen aid with the paddle attachment. You can mix this whole recipe by hand, it just takes a lot longer and your arm will probably get tired if you have no upper arm strength (like me). If you are using a hand mixer, I would recommend only using it for mixing the wet ingredients and then fold in the dry ingredients by hand.
Once your butter and sugar have creamed together, add in the vanilla extract and the eggs. I prefer using Mexican vanilla extract, mostly because this is what my mom used, it is cheaper than regular vanilla extract, and the taste quality comes out the same just as if you were to use regular vanilla extract. Allow this to mix together for about 2-3 minutes.
Add in The Dry Ingredients
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and coffee grounds. Once your dry ingredients have been mixed slowly add them to the mixer with the wet ingredients. Once the dough has formed, fold in the chocolate chips by hand. You don’t want to add the chocolate chips to the mixer because it breaks them up and for baking purposes you want your chocolate chips to be whole.
Chill Then Bake
Once everything is mixed together, put the dough in the fridge to cool for about an hour or so until the dough becomes kind of hard. You could leave the dough to chill overnight for best results, but for me when I want cookies, I want them now. Once your dough is almost hard, go ahead and preheat your oven to 350°F. Scoop your cookie dough and roll into balls about 1″-2″ in diameter. I make the dough balls large enough so that I can bake at least 6 but no more than 8 cookies at a time. When you are baking the cookies, you want to use an un-greased cookie sheet. I use a baking mat like this one, to easily remove my cookies once they are done baking.
As a side note, make sure you only bake one tray of cookies at a time. If you bake more than one tray at a time, your cookies may not cook evenly. Of course, if you are using a commercial oven I am sure you could do more than one tray at a time. For people at home, however, we all use regular ovens.
Bake the cookies for 15- 18 minutes and then allow to cool for about five minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. I prefer crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside cookies. If you like your cookies one way or the other, adjust your bake time accordingly. If you are using all-purpose flour, you should bake the cookies for about 20 minutes.
Serve It Up
Enjoy the cookies with a nice glass of milk or scoop some ice cream between two and make a delicious ice cream sandwich! The cookies will stay good for about a week, but honestly, they won’t last more than three days before they’re gone. They are that good.
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
This recipe is adapted from the Copycat Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I have made variations of this recipe throughout the years, and this is my best one yet. Not to mention it is gluten-free! Trust me, if you are afraid of using almond flour don’t be. You won’t regret it. I have used both all-purpose flour and almond flour in the recipe, and the almond flour is the grand champ for me.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Fridge Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings 24 Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 tbs butter (1 stick)
- 1 cup Brown Sugar (Dark Brown Sugar is fine too
- 3 tbs Granulated white sugar
- 1 tbs vanilla extract
- 1 large Egg
- 2 1/2 cups Almond Flour (may substitute 1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour)
- 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 tsp Himalayan Salt (Sea salt and regular table salt will do fine too)
- 2 tsp Coffee Grounds (optional)
- 1 1/2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips (I prefer dark chocolate chunks, but they are harder to come by)
Directions
- Set butter and eggs out an hour or two before beginning, to allow them to warm up to room temperature
- In a stand mixer, mix together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar with a paddle attachment for about 2-3 minutes
- Add eggs, and vanilla extract to butter and sugar mixture
- In a separate bowl mix together dry ingredients of almond flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and coffee grounds
- Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until the dough forms. If you are using a hand mixer, mix in dry ingredients by hand
- old in chocolate chips by hand
- Place dough mixture in the fridge for about 1 hour
- Preheat oven to 350ºF
- Once the dough has chilled, scoop two tablespoons and roll them together to form a dough ball. Place 6-8 dough balls on an ungreased baking sheet or baking mat
- Bake for 15-17 minutes then cool for five minutes before transferring to a cooling wrack
- Enjoy cookies warm with some milk, cold with some ice cream for an ice cream sandwich, or serve with coffee the next morning for a delicious start to your day
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