“There are any number of ways to prepare chocolate chip cookies but this one is hands down my favorite,” says Greg Hozinsky, Coast Packing corporate chef. “Our recipe calls for lard and creates the perfect chewy texture – the thing that everyone loves in a great chocolate chip cookie. Trust me on this and give it a try – it’s easy, quick and insanely delicious.”
Ingredients
Makes 12-14 cookies; prep time 15 minutes, bake time 9-10 minutes, total time 1 hour 25 minutes
- 2 cups AP flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup lard, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 30 ml milk
- 1 ½ cups chocolate chips (hint: for even better flavor, use half dark chocolate chunks and half large milk chocolate chips)
- Sea salt such as Fleur de sel or Maldon for finishing
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees (ideally convection bake). In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; use a wire whisk to mix well, then set aside for later.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar and room temperature lard. Use an electric mixer on medium speed and combine until creamy and smooth -- usually about 2-3 minutes.
- To creamed sugar, add the egg and blend with the electric mixer until combined. Next, add milk and vanilla extract. Mix again until smooth; give it about 30 seconds.
- Add half the flour mix into the bowl with wet ingredients. On a low speed, mix until it just starts to come together; scrape sides of bowl with rubber spatula then add remaining flour and continue to mix on low until the dough looks uniform. Use a rubber spatula to remove any extra dough from mixing paddles.
- Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top; use the rubber spatula to fold in chocolate until well distributed throughout the dough.
- If you have a scoop, use it to fashion the dough into balls that are about 2 oz each. Place onto a parchment and greased baking tray, leaving 2-3 inches of space per cookie. Aim to place about 8 cookies on one tray. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
- Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes or until light golden brown; allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
- After the cookies come out of the oven, immediately sprinkle with a few flecks of sea salt. This is an optional step but worth doing to add that extra special touch.
- Ready for seconds? No problem: dough can be frozen and holds up very well for up to a month.
Recipe courtesy of Coast Packing Company
