Giant Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

Those gigantic bakery-style chocolate chip cookies that are larger than your hand are always impressive. They promise the same buttery, sugary, chocolaty goodness of a small cookie, but in triplicate. Unfortunately, many of these cookies aren’t as good as the look, as the bakers/bakeries responsible figure that the fact that they can pack more chocolate chips into the cookie makes up for the fact that there isn’t much flavor in the dough itself.

Luckily for us, it’s not too hard to make a version of these monstrous cookies at home, where you can get the look of the bakery cookie and all the goodness of a homemade one – plus, you are guaranteed to get at least one warm from the oven when you bake them yourself.

The challenge in baking giant cookies is in balancing the time, size and temperature in the recipe. Some cookies will need a longer baking time and a lower oven temperature. Others will need to be shaped or flattened in a particular way to ensure even baking. This recipe is one of the few that doesn’t need special consideration. The cookies bake at a regular 350F and take only a few minutes longer in the oven than their pint-sized counterparts, turning out cookies that are crisp at the edges and chewy in the center. The only slightly unusual thing that I recommend doing with these cookies is letting them cool and set on the baking sheets, so that the center (obviously larger than on a standard cookie) will have time to firm up without overcooking the rest of the cookie.

I used two unusual ingredients in these cookies that I think really makes these special. First, I used giant chocolate chips. They fit the cookies nicely, although regular-sized chips will be equally satisfying bite-for-bite. Second, I stirred in some Rice Krispies to the dough, which lend a nice little crunch to the cookies. I’ve used this technique before, and you could also use crushed cornflakes if you don’t have puffed rice on hand.

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups rice krispies/puffed rice cereal
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugars and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the sugar mixture, followed by rice krispies and chocolate chips.
Using a 1/4 cup measure as a spoon, drop 1/4 cup scoops of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Leave at least 4 inches between cookies to allow for spread (I put 5 or 6 on a sheet). Cookie dough should be shaped in the 1/4 cup measure, not in a round ball (as this results in the most even baking).
Bake for 13-16 minutes, until cookies are golden at the edge. Remove from oven and let cookies set on cookie sheet for 6-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Makes 24 large cookies.