Brenda Cookies

Meet the pinnacle of all Brenda Food:

THE BRENDA COOKIE.

Taking America’s Test Kitchen and New York Time’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes and making her own version, the Brenda Cookie was born. After 2 years of perfecting the recipe, she shared it with the world.

These cookies have brought so much JOY to thousands of people from coast to coast. Like, when I heard Marie Kondo talk about items that “spark joy” I thought of these cookies.

The smell. The taste. The layers of chocolate. The gooey centers. The crunchy edges. Mama mia!

Read the full Brenda Cookie Story, or make a half-batch!


The Brenda Cookie

Cream together, mixing for approximately 5 minutes:

1 cup (9 oz) brown sugar

1 cup (8 oz) sugar

1 1/4 cup (10 oz) butter, softened 

Then add, stirring until smooth:

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla 

Sift dry ingredients together and fold into the above mixture:

3 1/2 cups (17 oz) flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp coarse salt

Just before the dry ingredients are fully incorporated, add:

1 pkg (10 oz) Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Chips

Do not overmix!

Portion by scooping equal sized dough balls onto a greased 13x9. Cover and refrigerate 24-72 hours.

Bake at 370F for 8-10 minutes, adding 5 minutes for extra-large cookies. 


Brenda’s Tips:

  • Serving Size: Brenda’s 1/2 cup cookie scoop makes 18 or 19 balls of dough per batch

  • Brenda uses a stand mixer to make the cookies. She starts the butter and sugar creaming and then measures out all the other ingredients while waiting for the sugars and butter to whip. 

  • Resting the dough allows the flavors to fully meld and the textures to develop. This cookie has a chewy bite with just the right combination of intense dark chocolate and caramelized butter. It will taste good immediately, but if you can be patient it will be even better.

  • Brenda seldom recommends a brand, but you’ll notice that Ghirardeli 60% Cacao are listed. These chips will create the flat layers of intense chocolate that indicates a true Brenda Cookie.

  • At high elevations, add more flour. At the farm (2600 ft), Brenda uses 17.5 oz of flour and at home (6200 ft) Brenda uses 18.5 oz

  • Let the cookies rest 3-6 hours before serving or packaging. A properly prepared Brenda Cookie will stay soft internally without being stored in an airtight container.

  • Don’t want to make a full batch? Here’s the half-batch recipe.


Window to B’s Kitchen…

Creaming butter + sugar:

Incorporating flour:

Mixing in the chocolate chips:

Scooping the dough:

Gnocchi

Gnocchi

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