blue artichoke

I have tried to control as much as possible the various aspects of this cookie quest. I bought a giant bag of semisweet chocolate chips and jug o' vanilla extract at Sam's. I use the same kind of flour (Wal-Mart brand all-purpose white flour), unless otherwise noted. I use the same baking soda and powder (whatever is in my cupboard). I have used different brands of eggs, but all are large eggs. I use light brown sugar unless otherwise directed. I use the same brand of unsalted butter, which is good because water and salt content vary by brand. I just ran out of light brown sugar, so I'll replenish it using the same brand. I keep the chocolate chips in the fridge, so they are cold for every batch of cookies.

I use my regular cookie sheets as is, unless directed to use Silpat or parchment paper. My cookie sheets aren't nonstick, but I've never had a problem with anything sticking to them.

And I follow the recipes faithfully, which is more difficult than I thought it would be. I like to add more or less of an ingredient or go by how the batter looks and adjust accordingly. One of the batters looked too runny to me. Usually I would add flour, but I refrained and the cookies turned out fine.

Some of the recipes I've tried call for nuts or other additions. I omitted them because I want the best plain chocolate chip cookie. I do like nuts in cookies, but I'll experiment with add-ins after I narrow down the cookie contenders.

I'm learning that the ingredients make big differences. For example, using butter leads to cookies that spread; Crisco helps cookies keep their shape. Brown sugar has more moisture than white sugar and means chewier cookies. Most recipes call for brown sugar and white sugar in various ratios. I'm still working out the perfect ratio for chewiness and sweetness. Only ~35 more recipes to test!

I wonder when I'll burn out on chocolate chip cookies?