This is the 4th Melbourne lockdown as the recent Covid infection cluster grows.
Sianz? Yes. I don't deny but life with or without lockdown has been quite the same for me.
Even with the lockdown, I still have to go to work on the weekdays. We don't really go out on most weekends anyway as I'm usually busy at home... BAKING!And my latest baking obsession is to look for the best copycat Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe...Are you a fan of Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip Cookies? I was but not anymore!
Is Chips Ahoy American? Yes according to Wikipedia, it is an American cookie brand, baked and marketed by Nabisco, a subsidiary of Mondelēz International, that debuted in 1963.
Can we buy CA cookies in Australia? Yes but only in specialised online shops that sell American food products. Not in our everyday Coles or Woolies.
Why bake copycat CA cookies if I’m not a CA fan anymore?
According to my memory, the original CA CCC are crunchy. When I did a Google search on “Chips Ahoy”, I saw that there are many other versions such as chewy, chunky, brownie, candy, mini and even cereal Chips Ahoy!
Actually, I just want to bake CCC that is like the original CA being thick chunky crunchy chocolate chip cookies.
Plus, I was going to pimp up my copycat CA cookies with extra-nice aromatic ingredients such as premium quality vanilla, butter and chocolate chips because the real CA cookies are just plain crunchy with no much buttery taste and aroma in them! This explains why I’m not a fan of CA cookies anymore. Simply because I can bake better cookies than the real CA cookies.
After searching and several trial bakes, I have finally found my best copycat thick chunky crispy crunchy CA cookies! I have to say... It wasn’t easy!
Do you want to hear my CA cookies exploration story? Sorry if I sounded a little long-winded because it was my obsession...
Ok. In short...
Yes! I found the BEST copycat Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe!
When I did a Google search for “chips ahoy cookies recipe”, the first few hits were all the same showing a recipe that contains shortening (with no added butter) and egg white. These recipes are actually quite right because the real CA cookies are quite tasteless with no buttery aroma. They are just thick and 100% crunchy. Not soft! Not chewy!
In the past, I used to warm up the CA cookies slightly when I was craving for soft CCC with gooey chocolate chips and have to enjoy the cookies while they were freshly warmed. When the cookies are cooled to room temperature, they would turn hard and crunchy again!
Am I right? Please correct me if I’m wrong because I have not tasted Chips Ahoy cookies for a long time.
As I said earlier, I want to my copycat CA cookies to be pimped up with butter. So I browsed further and found this recipe from The Kitchen Magpie. I named this copycat CA recipe one. Why one? Simply because there is a recipe two and I will tell you why later.
Copycat Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe One
These cookies baked by CA recipe one are suppose to be crunchy due to their higher caster sugar : brown sugar proportion. It is dry cookie dough and no chilling is required before baking.
Here’s a video showing how to bake copycat CA cookies using recipe one.
I like these thick chunky cookies but... I reckon that they are 30% similar to the CA cookiesCrunchy and crispy only on the day of bake!!! Not on the next day! I created copycat CA recipe two and baked these cookies...
These cookies are crunchy, mostly at the browned edges when completely cooled and only on the day that they were baked. On the next day, the cookies will be uniformly semi-soft with no crunch and crisp at all. And they are not chewy.
I can bake them again if I want restore the crunch at their edges but I choose not to do so because these chunky buttery semi-soft cookies are actually nice too. Kind of like semi-soft texture of the real CA cookies that have been freshly warmed. That’s why I would classify this recipe as a legit CA copycat recipe but with only 30% similarity.
Whether CA or not, these cookies were gone quickly in the presence of my teenage Cookie Monster. No worries then...
What's next? I decided to create my very own CA copycat recipe and I named it as recipe two!
Why this recipe? These cookies are made of:
1) a combination of butter and shortening but mostly butter.Based on my Famous Amos crispy CCC recipe at here, I have learnt that a small ratio of shortening can make cookies extra crispy and the cookies can stay crispy for up to a week or more.
2) egg yolk, not egg white and not both!Based on my baking experience, egg whites make cookies tough and hard after over-baking whereas egg yolks make cookies crisp and crunch. See the difference?
3) Plus, these cookies are baked with two oven temperature.180°C / 350°F for 10 mins to allow the cookies to expand and crisp up the edges first.150°C / 300°F for 10-12 mins, 10 mins if you prefer the cookies to look pale like the original CA cookies or 12 mins if you prefer the cookies to be slightly golden brown and crunchier. This extra baking duration will bake the cookies thoroughly so that the entire cookie is crispy and will stay crunchy for up to a week.
To ensure that the oven temperature is optimally distributed, I baked these cookies one tray at a time.
Watch this video to see how I baked my copycat CA cookies using my recipe two. And this is the BEST copycat CA CCC recipe!
Crunchy, chunky and crispy!
These are the BEST CA CCC that I have ever baked!
Baking tips for recipe two:
Sorry for being a nag but I really need to highlight out these essential points if you want to bake really nice and crunchy copycat CA cookies like mine.
- Please do not substitute Crisco shortening with other ingredients such as butter or Copha shortening. It will dramatically affect the texture of your cookies!
- Please bake the cookies one tray at a time. As I said before, this ensures that the oven temperature is optimally distributed.
- Please note that the cookies are crunchy only when they are completely cooled.
- This cookie dough should be soft and pliable, not sticky and easy to handle. And no chilling is required!
- I have also tried baking these cookies with salted butter with added salt and they were extra-awesome! Perhaps they are more flavoursome and salty than the original CA cookies? Definitely yummier!!!
Chunky crunchy crispy...
And baked with premium butter, chocolate chips and vanilla...
My crunchy cookies are way better than the real Chips Ahoy cookies!
I will definitely bake these again and again...
In summary, please use copycat recipe one if you are after chunky chocolate chip cookies that are semi-soft and crunchy but please note that the cookies will not be crunchy on the next day.
If you are after crunchy chunky cookies that will stay crunchy for at least a week, please use copycat recipe two. To me, this is the BEST copycat Chip Ahoy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe! In fact, this is a MUST-TRY recipe if you love crunchy cookies. Plus, I promise... You won't regret if you bake these cookies with premium butter, vanilla and chocolate!!!
Want to bake crunchy chocolate chip cookies with no shortening and egg? Please stay tune as I will share another recipe in next blog post. Yet, I have to emphasize... This Recipe Two is still the BEST copycat Chips Ahoy CCC that I have ever baked.
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Here are the recipes.
Recipe One that is adapted from The Kitchen Magpie (with higher proportion of caster sugar : brown sugar that makes a dry cookie dough)
Makes 14 large cookies
120g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
25g dark muscovado sugar or dark brown sugar
125g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
25g egg, about half a large egg, at room temperature
187g (1 1/4 cup) plain or all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
200g (1 cup) dark or milk chocolate chips, plus extra to top - I used Callebaut dark chocolate callets with 54% cocoa
Add butter and both sugars into a large mixing bowl. Use a wooden spoon or an electric mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter mixture until combined and fluffy.
Beat in the vanilla. Add egg, bit by bit and beat well after each addition.
Sift flour, baking soda and salt into the butter mixture and mix until combined. Then, stir in chocolate chips.
Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F. Line baking trays with baking papers.
Divide dough equally into 14 portions, about 50g each. Roll into balls and use a flat-bottom cup to flatten each cookie evenly and the cookies should be about 0.5 cm thick. It is a dry dough and won't stick to your hands. Arrange the flattened cookie dough on the prepared tray with about 2-3 cm apart. Bake for 9-10 mins if you prefer the your cookies to be mostly soft and pale or 12 mins if you prefer crunchier with more browned edges, one tray at a time for better heat distribution. Allow cookies to cool slightly on the trays for about 10 mins. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Please note that 30% of the cookies are crunchy, mostly at the browned edges when completely cooled and only on the day that they were baked. On the next day, the cookies will become uniformly semi-soft with no crunch and crisp at all. To restore their crunch at their edges, you will have to bake them again.
Store cookies in an airtight container for up to one week at room temperature.
Recipe Two: My recipe with egg yolk but modified with ratio of shortening:butterTHIS IS THE BEST CRUNCHY CRISPY COPYCAT CHIPS AHOY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES WITH BUTTER!!!
Makes 12 large cookies
90g unsalted or salted butter, softened at room temperature15g preferably trans fat free Cisco* shortening25g dark muscovado sugar or dark brown sugar75g caster sugar1/2 tsp vanilla paste or extract1 large egg yolk, about 17g at room temperature150g (1 cup) plain or all-purpose flour1/4 tsp baking soda1/2 tsp salt100g (1/2 cup) dark or milk chocolate chips, plus extra to top if desired - I used Callebaut dark chocolate callets with 54% cocoa
*Please do not use Copha shortening or substitute this with butter or vegetable oil. This ingredient is essential to make these cookies thick, crispy and crunchy like Chips Ahoy. For people who are living in Australia, you can buy this item via USA foods, online or in the shop at Moorabbin, Victoria.
Add butter, shortening and both sugars into a large mixing bowl. Use a wooden spoon or an electric mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter mixture until pale and creamy.
Beat in the vanilla. Add egg yolk and beat well.
Sift flour, baking soda and salt into the butter mixture and mix until combined. Then, stir in chocolate chips.
Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F. Line baking trays with baking papers.
Cookie dough should be soft and pliable, not sticky and easy to handle. No chilling is required!
Divide dough equally into 12 portions, 40g each. Roll into balls and flatten slightly. Arrange them on the prepared tray with about 5cm apart. Bake one tray at a time, for 10 mins, then reduce oven temperature to 150°C / 300°F and continue to bake for 10-12 mins, 10 mins if you prefer the cookies to look pale like the original CA cookies or 12 mins if you prefer the cookies to be slightly golden brown and crunchier. Allow cookies to cool slightly on the trays for about 10 mins. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies will be crunchy and crispy when they are completely cooled.
Store cookies in an airtight container for up to one week at room temperature.
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