The King Arthur Baking Company Recipe of the Year (ROTY) launched December 27. This year, the company is taking on a baked good that bakers feel passionate about and is taking a stance that might drum up some culinary controversy: chocolate chip cookies.

This year's ROTY gives bakers of all levels a chance to create a classic baked good, but with a twist of a never-before-seen combination of techniques resulting in a cookie that is bigger, bolder and better. The test kitchen took two years, 75 tests and over 1,200 cookies to make sure the recipe lived up to its title.

What makes this cookie special? Defining features: 

  • Brown butter - This recipe starts with a simple step that builds lots of nutty, complex flavor: browning the butter. 
  • Bread flour - The higher protein content of bread flour adds a bit of chewiness and holds moisture better than all-purpose flour.
  • Tangzhong - The process of cooking milk with some of the flour in the recipe until a paste forms (known as tangzhong) transforms the starches and creates a super-soft texture in the final cookies that will keep them tasting fresh for days.  
  • Chopped chocolate - Using a serrated knife to chop chocolate wafers coarsely creates a dynamic eating experience with chunks of chocolate of varying sizes. Plus, chopped chocolate melts better than chocolate chips.
  • Overnight rest - Letting the dough chill in the refrigerator overnight hydrates the dough, enhances the flavor and helps prevent the cookies from spreading too much. 
  • Huge size - The whimsical, fun size visually sets these cookies apart from others. It also provides a large surface area to see the shiny top and chunks of chocolate. 
  • Super-soft texture - These techniques together create a cookie with a unique texture. They’re slightly bendy and incredibly soft with slightly crisp edges. 
  • Shiny surface - When baked just right, the surface of these cookies should have a pleasant sheen and crackly appearance to them like blondies.  
  • No special equipment - The whole recipe comes together by hand with a whisk — no stand mixer required.

This is a new take on chocolate chip cookies that requires a little bit more time and intentionality than the average one-bowl chocolate chip cookie recipe, but King Arthur says it’s a lot more worth it.