Description

These decadently massive, lusciously gooey Giant Bakery-Style High Altitude Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies have a crisp exterior with a nutty crunch.

Ingredients

Scale

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, cut into chunks
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, cold
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour*
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cups extra-large chocolate chips, chopped dark chocolate, or standard semi-sweet chocolate chips
1.5 cups chopped toasted pecans or walnuts (see Notes for a nut-free option)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 410 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter chunks with the sugars on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture until just combined.
Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts (or other additions, if using).
Gently scooping with a large ice cream scoop or your hands, divide the dough into eight equal portions, being careful not to squeeze and compact the dough balls – you want a fairly loose texture here. You can eyeball the dough balls, or weigh them – they’ll be around 6 ounces each. (Alternatively, if you want smaller cookies, make 16 portions of about 3 ounces each).
Place the dough balls on the baking pan, four to a sheet (or eight to a sheet, if making smaller ones). Bake one sheet at a time for about 12 minutes (9-10 minutes for smaller ones). They should be dappled brown on the top with crisp-looking edges, but still seem slightly underdone. If you prefer a less-gooey cookie, you can leave them in another minute or two.
Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for at least 15 minutes before removing.
Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to a week.

Notes

… if you have difficulty finding cake flour or want to use what you have on hand, you can use 3 cups total of all-purpose flour.

if you prefer a nut-free version, you need to make up the volume of the nuts with another ingredient, or the texture of the cookies will be affected. You can add another 1.5 cups of chocolate chips of your choice (white, milk, dark, or semisweet), or another add-in such as raisins or other dried fruit (cranberries might be yummy).