Chewy Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Everyone has their favorite cookie recipe they have lived by for years. For me, it started as a kid in the kitchen adjusting and experimenting with the Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe. I made adjustments and perfected the chocolate chunk cookie back at age 12, but enhanced it once I discovered Trader Joe’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks a couple years ago.

The Adjustments from a Classic

Coming from a mom who baked often, we still didn’t always have the same ingredients on hand in the kitchen. Some days we would have margarine, some days salted or unsalted butter, some days Crisco. Each time I would make a batch of cookies, I was at the mercy of my mom’s grocery shopping and what was available in the kitchen.

After discovering we only had enough butter for half a batch one day, I had to supplement with something else. That something else was Crisco and now there’s no going back! I use half softened butter and half Crisco in order to create the perfect texture of the cookie. Not too thick, not too thin, but chewy.

Additionally, I always added a little more sugar than the recipe called for. Throw in a full cup of white granulated sugar and a full cup of brown sugar for the perfect amount.

Do the Trader Joe’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks really make a difference?

100% YES! These chunks are the reason my husband requests homemade cookies just shy of once a week. We are obsessed in this house!

I cannot recommend these chunks to others enough. They are so creamy for being semi-sweet with more of a flavor of dark chocolate than your standard semi-sweet chip. 

Don’t be shy on having a heavy hand when you pour these into your dough. Coming from someone who prefers the cookie part to the chocolate part in the chip, these chocolate chunks completely turned the tables for me. I want more and more chunks in every bite.

No Trader Joe’s local to your area? Consider purchasing them on Amazon or taking a road trip…they are worth it!

Ingredients

• 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
• ½ c of Crisco
• 1 c granulated sugar
• 1 c brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 ¼ c flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 c Trader Joe’s semi-sweet chocolate chunks

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Cream together with butter and Crisco until well-combined. Add sugars and mix on low for about a minute.
• Add vanilla and eggs one at a time. Mix until creamy even texture is achieved.
• In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. 
• Add the flour mixture slowly to the sugar and butter mixture. Continue mixing on low and adding flour mixture until dough is evenly combined.
• Stir in chocolate chunks.
• Drop 1 ½ inch – 2 inch dough balls onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet with 2 inches between each dough ball.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and let it cool on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes. 
• Transfer cookies to the cooling rack. 
• Store in an airtight container; best enjoyed within 1-2 days of baking.