I was on a mission to make nice big chewy cookies. Have you ever had trouble with cookies. Either they come out too flat and crispy or thick and hard. Sometimes they end up spreading into each other. I wanted to try and recreate the large cookies like you would get at Starbucks, or Panera. I wanted it so even after they were cooled off that they still had that nice chewy soft consistency.
Here are some helpful tips to achieving this
Tip #1: Let the eggs sit out on your counter until they get to room temperature as you are grabbing the other ingredients. By letting the eggs get to room temperature it gives maximum volume during baking. Also, it aids in mixing the batter. When cold eggs are added to a batter, it will create more clumps and lead to uneven distribution of ingredients.
Tip #2: When a recipe calls for butter, use stick butter. If you substitute margarine or oil for butter, chances are you’ll end up with flatter cookies, because they can contain more water than butter. If you substitute shortening, chances are your cookies will be more cakelike and won’t flatten as much as they should. (source)
Tip #3 : Cookie sheets should be cool when the dough is loaded on so that the cookies don’t melt and start "baking" before they’re in the oven. Use at least two cookie sheets; one sheet should be off the stove and cooling while the other is in the oven. (source)
Ingredients:
2/3 cup butter flavored shortening (chilled, cut into slices)
2/3 cup unsalted butter (cut in chunks)
1 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cup PACKED brown sugar
2 large eggs, ROOM TEMPERATURE
2 tsp. real vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour (spooned into cups and leveled off)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (spooned into cups and leveled off)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups milk chocolate chips
You can also add is other things like: toffee chips, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, walnuts, pecans, craisin, raisins.. the list can go on forever.
Preheat convection oven to 375 degrees.
In stand mixer, cream the shortening, butter and both sugars until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then add vanilla.
Combine the flours, baking soda and salt, stir into the creamed mixture.

Stir in the chocolate chips and any other additions.
Use a large tablespoon (or ice cream scoop like I used) to round dough into balls. Don’t roll the balls, just make them rounded.
Place them on a baking sheet. I used a stone, but if you use a regular baking sheet place parchment paper that is ungreased.
Bake 12-14 minutes in preheated oven. Don’t over bake. Slide parchment paper with cookies off of pan, and let pan cool before scooping out next batch.

Enjoy