Gideon's Bakehouse Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gideon's Bakehouse Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough September 2, 2019 from Oola

I’ve never heard of Gideon’s Bakehouse or had one of their chocolate chip cookies so I don’t know if this is a faithful copycat or not. But I do know it’s a damn good chocolate chip cookie. 

I was intrigued by this one as it calls for a combination of cake flour and bread flour. Normally you use cake flour for a softer, more tender crumb and bread flour for something more chewy. Combining them together seems like the same as using all-purpose flour to get the best of both worlds. 

But any excuse to try a new chocolate chip cookie is fine with me so I did. And I’m glad I did as this turned out to be an excellent cookie. Crisp at the edges, chewy in the middle, great caramelized brown sugar flavor. Loved it. 

The hallmark of a Gideon’s Bakehouse chocolate chip cookie is that it’s studded all over with chocolate chips. Think porcupine. I genuinely tried it on the larger-than-life-sized taste test cookie I made but since it did spread a little (but not too much), the cookies studded all over the dough ball spread so the baked cookie wasn’t quite as blanketed with chocolate chips as I think it was supposed to have been. 

I did the same with the smaller, normal-people size cookies and the chocolate chips still spread out as the cookie baked. I think I need to be more aggressive and heavy handed with the chocolate chips next time.

1 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups chocolate chips, divided
sea salt flakes, for sprinkling

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar for approximately 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition just until combined.
2. Sift together the cake flour and bread flour. Add cornstarch, baking soda and salt, whisk to combine. Add to wet ingredients and beat until just combined. Do not overmix.
3. Fold in 2 cups of chocolate chips. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
4. Pour 4 cups of chocolate chips in a bowl. Portion chilled cookie dough into large dough balls. Cover the entire surface of each dough ball with the chocolate chips. Chill or freeze briefly while oven preheats.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. Evenly space dough balls on prepared sheets. Bake for 9-10 minutes or until golden brown. Rest on baking sheets for several minutes then transfer cookies to wire cooling racks to cool completely. Sprinkle with sea salt and let cool completely.

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