Anna Olson's Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm back! I hope you all had a great holiday season and managed to take some time off of work and enjoy what really matters. I spent my two weeks of vacation soaking up time with my friends and family. I also finally bought a DSLR camera, a Canon Rebel XS, and I'm so excited to take food photos with it now that I'm back at my house. Feel free to make fun of my learning curve, I swear I won't mind.

While I was in my hometown, I stayed with my boyfriend's parents, and his mother was kind enough to let me take over her kitchen to bake these chewy chocolate chip cookies, among many others.

I'll miss the natural light in her kitchen, since my basement apartment has just one small window. So long, perfectly lit photos! But it's good to be back in my familiar kitchen, too.

While I like to try new versions of chocolate chip cookies - and there are enough out there that it's nearly impossible to run out of options - I keep coming back to this recipe from Anna Olson. The "secret ingredient" is corn starch, to which Anna credits these cookies' chewy texture.


I don't know if the corn starch is the reason, but these cookies are chewy and very, very tasty. Especially if you add an extra splash of vanilla. I promise they won't stick around for very long, which may not be such a good thing after all of those holiday indulgences. Keep reading for the recipe.


Anna Olson's Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted slightly from Sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
3-4 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cream together butter and sugars until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.
3. Stir in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chunks.
4. Drop by tablespoons onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown around the edges. Let rest on cookie sheet for 2 or 3 minutes, until firm enough to not fall apart. Move cookies to a cooling rack and let cool slightly.