Baking Basics:

3 Easy Recipes to Get Started

About the recipe.

Cookies and brownies are both some of the simplest and most fundamental recipes in baking, they're also an excellent way to get started for a beginner. Below, I will take you step by step through the recipe for each of them, as well as provide a list of ingredients for each.

Cookie Ingredients

None of the ingredients used in these are very hard to come by, in fact, you can find all of them at your local grocery store!

    For the cookies you will need:
  1. 1 1/2 cups(200g) All-purpose(AP) flour
  2. 1/2(3g) teaspoon Kosher salt
  3. 1/2 cup(112g) White sugar
  4. 3/4 cups(200g) Dark brown sugar, packed
  5. 1/2 cup(112g) Unsalted butter, melted
  6. 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk
  7. 2 teaspoons(6g) vanilla extract
  8. 4 ounces dark chocolate(60-70% cacao)
  9. 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (46-56% cacao)
  10. 1/2 teaspoon(4g) baking soda

Before I get to the recipe I wanted to add a few notes:

First, I prefer to use half dark and half semi-sweet chocolate for the cookies, but it is truly up to taste. As long as you use the right amount, you can use whatever kind of chocolate you prefer!
Second, when melting the butter, be sure to do it at medium to low heat, it also enhances the flavor if you brown the butter. If you don't know how I will make sure to include a link to a video at the end of the recipe.

The recipe:

  1. First, in a large bowl, mix your flour, salt, and baking soda, whisk to combine.
  2. After you have combined your dry ingredients, go ahead and gently melt your butter.
  3. While the butter is melting, combine your white sugar and dark brown sugar in a large mixing bowl.
  4. After the butter has melted, the milk solids have browned, and the liquid has cooled, add it to the sugar mixture and whisk together.
  5. Next, add your egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, and whisk the mixture vigorously until it turns a light brown color, and falls off of the whisk in thick strands.
  6. Once the liquids are combined, pour your dry ingredients in through a fine mesh sieve to get rid of any clumps of flour, and gently fold the wet and dry ingredients with a silicone spatula together until you can't see anymore flour. Be careful not to over mix.
  7. When done mixing, chop up the chocolate in uneven chunks, and fold it into the cookie dough, then cover the dough in plastic wrap, and let it chill in the fridge for around 24 hours. When you're ready to bake pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
  8. Once the dough has finished chilling in the fridge you can take it out and start baking: start by lining one or more baking sheets with parchment paper then use an ice cream scoop or a spoon to form the dough into balls about 4 ounces per cookie.
  9. Let the cookies bake for around 12-16 minutes depending on your oven, and bang the pan halfway through to release the air in the cookies. When they're done baking you can top them with a bit of flaky salt or enjoy them normally.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
When you're done they should look something like this!
Here's that reference video I promised on browning butter!

The Brownies

Brownie ingredients

The recipe:

  1. To start prep your baking dish by spraying it with non-stick spray or greasing it with butter, then line it with parchment paper. Set this aside until you need it.
  2. Next, in a large bowl, combine your cocoa powder, espresso powder, chopped unsweetened chocolate, and boiling water. Mix this together until all of the chocolate is melted.
  3. While the mixture is still warm add your unsalted butter and stir until it is melted, then add the vegetable oil and stir again until everything is combined.
  4. Once the chocolate mixture has cooled add your eggs and egg yolks one at a time, mixing until you can't see anymore egg each time. Then add your vanilla extract and whisk to combine.
  5. Finally fold in your flour, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to make sure there isn't any remaining flour, then add your chopped bittersweet chocolate and mix once more. For the bittersweet, it helps to chop it into bigger pieces so there will be larger pools of melted chocolate in the brownies.
  6. Pour the batter into the pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean.
  7. Once they're done remove them from the oven and let them cool in the pan for around an hour before removing and serving!
Fudgy brownies
If everything turns out well, the brownies should end up looking fudgy, and oozing chocolate like this.