Big, Thin, Chocolate Chip Cookies

UPDATE 12 APRIL 2010:

These cookies are so good, I wanted to update this very old post. I just made these again for an Austin food blogger potluck and shot some new photos. These cookies are intended to spread a lot while baking, and the result is a big, thin, crispy-edged, brown-sugary, irrestible, chocolate chip cookie. I've always found the original recipe to be just a little too low on flour even though that's why they spread so well and become so thin. I have a couple of changes I make including adding one half cup of wheat germ and adding extra vanilla, but I always add a little extra vanilla to cookies. One other thing I do with this recipe is to use one half cup of whole wheat flour in place of the last half cup of all-purpose flour. There's something about the thinness of these and the crunchy edges giving way to tender centers that makes them one of my all-time favorite cookies.

original post:

The recipe can be found on the Martha Stewart site under Alexis's Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip cookies and also in The Martha Stewart Cookbook: Collected Recipes for Every Day under Lexi's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies. These cookies spread a lot, meaning more than any cookie has ever expanded on a baking sheet, as they bake. They need lots of space around them so as not to bake into a solid cookie sheet. I place just five mounds of dough on each sheet pan, and it's not a bad idea to chill the sheets with dough mounds for a few minutes before putting them in the oven. I used a three tablespoon scoop for mounding the dough and left the cookies in the oven for twelve minutes rather than eight as directed in the recipe. Also, parchment paper or silpats are necessary to easily remove the baked cookies from the sheet pans. One last tip is that these cookies are very big and need time on a cooling rack to crisp. This all makes them sound somewhat fussy, but they're really not and they're definitely worth the effort.