Chocolate Chip Cookies

Method

1. Beat softened butter with brown sugar and caster sugar for 2 minutes until smooth and slightly lighter, not a large mass of whipped foam. Scrape the bowl and beat in the whole egg, extra yolk and vanilla until the mixture is uniform.
2. Whisk flour, baking soda and salt separately. Fold into the butter mixture on low speed or with a spatula until the last dry streaks almost disappear. Add chocolate chips and finish mixing gently; prolonged kneading develops a tougher cookie.
3. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour. Chilling lets the flour hydrate and controls spread. A very warm kitchen may need longer chilling; the dough should hold a rounded scoop without immediately slumping flat.
4. Heat a conventional oven to 175°C, or 160°C fan. Line two flat baking trays. Portion into 24 mounds of roughly 33 g and arrange at least 6 cm apart. Bake in separate batches if the trays cannot fit without blocking heat circulation, keeping spare dough refrigerated.
5. Bake for 11–14 minutes until the edges are golden, the surface is set and the centre no longer looks like wet dough. The centre may still feel soft because it contains melted chocolate and butter; this is different from liquid raw batter. Test one cookie rather than deliberately leaving all the centres underbaked.
6. Leave on the hot tray for 8–10 minutes before transferring to a rack. Moving immediately makes the cookies collapse; leaving them on a scorching tray for half an hour dries them out. Cool completely before stacking or closing a container.
7. Store airtight in a cool, dry place and use within about 4 days for the best texture, or freeze cooled cookies. Raw dough portions can be frozen on a tray and then bagged; bake from frozen with a few extra minutes, checking the same set-centre cues rather than tasting raw dough.