*recipe adapted from hostthetoast.com

Ingredients:

2 cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon cornstarch

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 ½ sticks (6 oz) butter, melted and cooled

1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

½ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt into a medium mixing bowl. Give the dry ingredients a quick whisk to combine. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat together the cooled melted butter and the sugars using the paddle attachment on low-medium setting for about 1 minute. Next, add in the vanilla extract and eggs 1 at a time. Beat until just combined. (You can also do this in a large bowl with a hand-mixer.)
3. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients at a time to the wet ingredients. Mix on low-medium setting until just combined or until there are no clumps of flour left.
4. Gently fold in the chocolate chips. *At this point, it might be super tempting to taste the raw cookie dough or lick the paddle/spatula but be sure to avoid this as consuming raw eggs and/or raw flour is a HUGE food safety risk.*
5. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to an hour.
6. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Roll about 1/4 cup portions of dough into balls. Gently pull the balls apart into two halves. Then, rotate the halves so that the torn sides are both facing upwards and smush the two halves together again. Place them on the prepared baking sheet with the lumpy surface face up. Be sure to leave plenty of space for each cookie to spread in the oven. Place the remaining dough back in the fridge, covered, while each batch bakes.
8. Place baking sheets on the middle racks of the oven and bake at 350°F for about 12-14 minutes, rotating the baking sheets half-way through. The cookies should have spread out and developed golden edges. The centers of the cookies should still look soft and a bit undercooked. (hostthetoast.com recommends starting with just one or two cookies on the tray to see what baking time works best for you because every oven is different.)
9. As soon as they are pulled out of the oven, gently bang the baking sheets on a heat-proof surface (this removes any trapped air and creates that gooey, chewy center).
10. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until they have firmed up a bit and lift easily from the pan.
11. Repeat steps 7 – 10 with the remaining dough.
12. Enjoy!