Battle of the Chocolate Chip Cookies (Part 3 of 7) Thick and Cakey

Updated: Aug 3, 2022

Left - Recipe 1 (Levain style), Right - Recipe 2

If you're one of the people that loves thick, cakey cookies then both of the recipes below are terrific options. I review both of them in terms of taste and texture at the cookie dough stage, freshly baked stage, room temperature stage, and day-old stage.

Here are the recipes and below them are my review of each cookie + pictures of the process of making them.

If you want to see the other chocolate chip cookie "battles":

Part 1 (Soft and Melty)

Part 2 (Thin and Crispy)

Part 3 (Thick and Cakey)

Part 4 (Chewy)

Part 5 (Top Rated Recipes)

Part 6 (Joshua Weissman vs. Chris Morocco)

Part 7 (Browned Butter)

Recipe 1 (Levain style):

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter (cold and cut into cubes)
1/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp. packed Light Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 large egg
1/2 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Cake Flour
¾ cup + 2 Tbsp. All Purpose Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Cornstarch
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
3/4 Cup Pecans (roughly chopped) (or chocolate Chips)
1 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300°F. Toast chopped pecans for 8 minutes.
Preheat oven to 390°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk together the flours, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add butter and sugars. Cream until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Since you are dealing with cold butter, start on low speed for 30 seconds, then medium speed for 30 seconds, and then high speed for 1 minute. Scrape down sides.
Add in eggs. Mix on medium speed until incorporated. Scrape down sides.
Add in flour mixture and mix on the lowest speed until all the flour is just incorporated -- careful not to over mix.
Add in pecans and chocolate chips and mix on the lowest speed until just incorporated.
You can either divide dough into 6 equal pieces, or weigh out the dough (each ball should weigh ~4 ounces). Lightly form the dough into a very loose ball. Place 6 cookies on each baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. For extra fluffy cookies chill the dough balls for 30 minutes prior to baking (optional).
Note: When I followed the original recipe it called for 6 oz. cookies but these were far too gigantic and didn't bake all the way, so I adjusted to 4 oz.
Bake in the middle row of the oven, for about 12-15 minutes. The tops of the cookies should be a light brown and the dough should look and feel cooked. Let cookies cool on the pan at least 15 minutes.
6 servings.

Recipe 2:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, cold
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsalted butter cold and cut into cubes
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans toasted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300°F. Toast chopped pecans for 8 minutes.
Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl whisk together eggs and vanilla. Set aside.
In your stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream cold butter until fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
Add in brown sugar and granulated sugar and beat for an additional 2 minutes.
Scrape down the sides of your bowl.
Pour in egg mixture and mix until just combined.
Add flour mixture 1/3 at a time until well combined, scraping down the sides as needed.
Stir in both chocolate chips and pecans with a spatula.
Using about 1/3 cup, scoop out dough and form 6 cookie balls and place on the baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in fridge and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and bake for 18-24 minutes, or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes.
This are best served fresh out of the oven, but microwaved warm is fine.
6 servings.

Review:

Cookie Dough Taste: Recipe Number one far superior. It was delicious and a lot softer than recipe 2.

Fresh out of the oven taste & Texture: I was a little dissapointed that recipe 1 were still raw in the middle after baking (The original recipe called for baking 6 oz. cookies at 410*F) so I adjusted the temperature and cookie size above. However, they did have a good taste, just off on the texture. Recipe 2 really tasted like my mom's cookies fresh out the oven (so very nice).

Room Temperature Taste & Texture: I preferred recipe 1 over recipe 2. Recipe 2 was quite cakey in flavor (tasted like flour + leavening) and if you like that then go ahead and make these. They did taste quite sweet. They also had a thick crust all around the outside, a bit too thick for my preference. The interior was soft, and cakey in texture. Since recipe 1 was a little under-baked they were a lot softer in the middle and better in flavor. They had a nice sweetness and butteriness to them. Recipe 1 also had a delicately crispy crust all around the outside, but not as thick as recipe 2. Recipe 1 is quite heavenly.

Day old taste and texture: Supridsingly I like how recipe 2 tastes toay a lot more than I did yesterday when they were fresh. Recipe 2 tastes less floury and is instead a nice dense, sweet cookie that still has a bit of crunch on the outside. The inside is crumbly and delicious. Recipe 2 now reminds of scones my colege dining hall used to serve (which were delicious). Recipe 1 also tastes really good, perhaps a little more buttery than recipe 2 but still sweet and delicious. Both do taste a tiny bit stale but they're not bad at all. I bet after warming both cookies up for ~10 seconds in the microwave would make them taste fresh again.

Milk dunkability: Both dunk in milk very well, but they do have to soak longer since they're dense and thick. I think I prefer both cookies undipped in milk (as opposed to dipped).

Conclusions: At first I was definitely feeling recipe 1 only. However, after tasting them the next day I think I'll put both in my recipe book.