Jill Levenhagen

…faith, creativity, humor and real life

Jenny’s Cookie Dough Chocolate Chip Cookies

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These soft, doughy chocolate chip cookies are the perfect cookie for those of us who can’t decide between eating the dough or waiting for them to bake! They stay soft for days, but they won’t last that long!

Jenny holding a pan of her Cookie Dough Chocolate Chip cookies before they go in the oven.

This post is from my series featuring “real home cooks”, making one of their favorite recipes in their own kitchen.  As a photographer and a cook, I love this documentary interview-style with lots of pictures! This is the first post in the series, and it features my sister Jenny and her yummy doughy Cookie Dough Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Why this recipe?  Why do you like it?  I think because I know the recipe by heart so it is really easy to do, and everyone loves them.

Is this your recipe?  Yes  How did you develop it?  Well, I had a friend who made a cookie that everybody loved.  And I asked her if she would share the recipe, and she said “No.” (lol)  So I thought…fine, I’ll figure it out.  Because what I liked about it was that it raised high and kind of doughy.  So it was kind of like cookie doughy.  It is almost like you are eating cookie dough, but it is cooked.  So I just started with my regular chocolate chip cookie recipe, and experimented with adding more flour, and adjusting the cook time.

Collage of process pictures of making the dough for the Cookie Dough Chocolate Chip Cookies.

What is your secret?  Is there a trick to it?  Well one thing that I probably can’t really ‘tell’ you is I know myself what the dough should feel like.  I have given other people the recipe and they say “I can’t make them like you make them”.  I put 4 cups of flour in the recipe, but it could need more.  It needs to be able to be a big ball of dough…not wet or runny.

It’s almost like playdoh.  All the dough comes off the sides of the bowl and the bowl is practically clean when it is ready.  At this point, it actually takes some muscle to mix in the chocolate chips.

The other thing I always do is put it in the refrigerator because that hardens it just a little bit more.  I use a cookie scooper…ice cream scoop…and so basically when I scoop it out of here and put it on the pan it stays in that same form/shape.  Putting in the refrigerator helps it cool and dry so that it comes off the cookie scoop better.

Collage of two images of putting the cookie dough on the pan and what the cookies look like when they get out of the oven.
This bottom picture is what they actually look like when they are DONE.

The thing about my dough that I like is that this is basically just the base dough.  So I can put chocolate chips in it, and it is chocolate chip cookies, or I could just make it into balls and roll it in cinnamon and sugar and is snickerdoodles.  I can just put a cup of peanut butter in it and it is peanut butter cookies, or just bake the dough as it is and frost them for sugar cookies!

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Jenny’s Cookie Dough Chocolate Chip Cookies

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  • Author: Jill Levenhagen
  • Total Time: 30
  • Yield: 5 dozen 1x

Ingredients

Scale

2/3 cup butter-flavored shortening

2/3 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 T. vanilla extract

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 t baking soda

1 t. salt

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips


Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour, baking soda and salt, stir to combine. Dough should all come together and not be sticky, but soft and not dry. (See photos in the post.)
  3. Add the chocolate chips and stir to combine.
  4. Refrigerate dough at least 20 minutes.
  5. Use a small scoop to round dough into balls. Don’t roll the balls, just make them rounded. Place onto ungreased baking sheet.
  6. Bake 8 minutes in the preheated oven, or until centers are set and very lightly browned. Don’t overbake. Cool 2-3 minutes before removing from baking sheet.

Notes

Variations using the dough without the chocolate chips: Snickerdoodles – Roll the dough balls in cinnamon and sugar and is snickerdoodles.  Peanut Butter Cookies – add 1 cup of peanut butter. Sugar Cookies – bake the dough as it is and frost the cookies.

Every recipe here is my creation. The only ones I publish are those that you can’t find anywhere else!

I love cooking, and believe that technique is the key to making all food better! I was a basic “meat and potatoes” cook until I actually started being brave enough to taste foods I thought I didn’t like. That has inspired my desire to bring more flavor to all the food I love, and use more ingredients I never ate before!