Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

There is nothing is better than soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies but when they are quick and easy to make that is a huge bonus. Even better, it mixes up even faster in the stand mixer if you triple the batch.

I grew up with this recipe.  It comes from Nellie Lyle Patterson’s Canadian Cookbook, originally published in 1923.  This cookbook appealed to me because thought I might find older recipes that didn’t rely on baking soda and baking powder as much.  I found quite a large number of recipes, plus some variations that appealed to me.  The version I have was revised in 1961 and printed in 1965.  The recipes in it have been around for while, reminding me of some of the recipes I have that belonged to my grandmother.

I don’t bake cookies much anymore but baking them brought back my childhood.  One of my only memories of my grandmother is making cookies.  Chocolate chip cookies were a staple in our house, and we were expected to help or make them.  We probably made a batch or two of these and oatmeal cookies a week.  I remember making them with my little brother, teaching him the basics of cookie making.  To this day, I consider 3 cookies and appropriate serving, the number my mother would let us have.   

How Much Sodium

The original recipe called for ½ cup of butter, ½ tsp of salt, and ½ tsp of baking soda.  Baking soda is the leavening in the cookies, therefore you can’t leave that out. If you’ve ever accidentally left out the baking soda, you know you end up with little rocks.  As the butter, salt and baking soda contribute about 2500 mg of salt to the dough, it results in about 52 mg of sodium per cookie.  If you leave out the salt and use unsalted butter or shortening, you end up with about 13 mg of sodium per cookie.  The reduced sodium doesn’t make a huge difference in the softness of the cookie.

The nuts are optional. However If add you add them, can expect to increase the yield to 5 dozen and further decrease the sodium content per cookie.

If your oven can accommodate 2 cookie pans at a time, it takes 16-20 minutes to bake.

So every once and a while enjoy a few soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies with your tea.

Print Recipe

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Low sodium doesn't mean low taste. Soft and chewy with lots of chocolate.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Course: Dessert, Snack

Servings: 16 3 cookies per serving

Equipment

• Mixing bowl, mixing spoon, measuring spoons, measuring cups, cookie pans

Ingredients

• ½ c Unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 6 tbsp White granuted sugar
• 6 tbsp Light brown sugar
• 1 Egg, beaten
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 c All purpose flour
• 2 tbsp All purpose four
• 1 c Semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 c Chopped nuts

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line 3 or 4 rimmed cookie pans with parchment paper.
• Cream butter with sugars until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla and beat until well incorporated and light.
• Sift together baking soda and flour and add to the butter mixture.  Stir to mix well for a smooth, slightly sticky dough.
• Add the chocolate chips and nuts, if using.  Mix to evenly distribute.
• Drop from a teaspoon onto prepared pans, using about a 1inch round mound of dough, leaving 3 inches between cookies.  The cookies will spread when cooked.  If they are too close together they will spread into each other.
• Bake 8-10 minutes until golden and starting to turn darker brown around the edge on the cookie.

Notes

Serving Suggestion

Any excuse will do to serve these cookies but mike, tea, coffee, hot chocolate are always good with chocolate chip cookies.

Goes nice with ice cream or other frozen dessert at the end of a meal.  As with any baked good, moderation is recommended.  Spread the dough on the rimmed rectangle baking pan or round pizza pan to make one giant cookie that can be decorated.

Alternatives or Substitutions

Substitute other flavours of baking chips, such as mint or white chocolate chips, checking the sodium content of the alternate ingredients.  Replace the chocolate chips with nuts or glacé cherries.

Use unsalted margarine in place of unsalted butter.

Storage

Store at room temperature in an air tight container for up to one week.

Freezing

These freeze well.  Freeze individually then place in a re-sealable plastic bag and remove all air or in a freezer container with a tight fitting lid.

Plan Ahead

You can measure out the dry ingredients ahead of time.  The butter needs to be at room temperature.  Take out about 30 minutes before using and chop into cubes to help soften.

Sodium Content

Use unsalted butter in this recipe and you will end up with about 13 mg of sodium per cookie (if making 48 cookies).  One-half a teaspoon of baking soda contains approximately 629 mg of sodium.  Divide the number of cookies you make into 629 to get the mg of sodium per cookie.