Chewy VS Crunchy

The King Arthur Flour (KAF) Cookie Companion begins with the ultimate classic cookie: Chocolate Chip. It offers 2 basic recipes:


The Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie and Classic Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies


Variations follow these recipes, including Orange-Pistachio Milk Chocolate Chippers, Butterscotch Granola, etc. Each variation is based on one of the basic two recipes, Chewy or Crunchy.
I tried them both and they were both delicious. I had mini chocolate chips in the house when I baked the chewies and that was an excellent substitution. The Chewy cookies were plump and cake-like, and disappeared from our kitchen without much fuss. But the Crunchy. Ah the Crunchy. These were crispy and melted in your mouth like caramelized sugar, like airy seafoam, like butter brickle*.
When I told my husband that I was going to do a year of cookies he pushed out his belly, and whined "I'm too fat!" When I baked this second batch, I planned to give them all away as a Christmas gift. At which point he whined "WHAT? You're giving them ALL away?"
I, too, am a little sad I didn't save some of these nummies for us.
Classic Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies. The bomb. They tend to spread out on the cookie sheet so space them accordingly. Also, the KAF is full of lovely cooking tips, including this one:

"Does it matter how heavily I grease my baking sheets? . . . . Yes! Cookies . . . tend to spread as they bake. A heavily greased pan exacerbates the spreading; instead of picking up resistance from the pan as the cookie bakes and spreads, it glides right over that grease and spreads too far. The result? Thin edges, with a tendency to burn. . . . the best solution of all is parchment."

Revelation! I have started using parchment with all my cookies and I'm not looking back.

Here are the recipes:

The Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie (Phoebe Factor of 0)
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar or white vinegar (I used cider)
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I am not a big fan of vanilla extract so I only used a teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2.25 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used mini chips and highly recommend this variation)

• Preheat the oven to 375. Line two cookie sheets with parchment (or lightly grease).
• In medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugars, corn syrup, and vinegar, then beat in eggs. Bean in the vanilla, salt baking powder and baking soda. Stir in the flour and chocolate chips.
• Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, or until they're just set; the centers may still seem a bit underdone. Remove from the oven, cool on wire rack.

Classic Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies (Phoebe Factor of 0)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (again, I used only one)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cider vinegar or white vinegar (I used cider)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

• Preheat the oven to 375. Line two cookie sheets with parchment (or lightly grease).
• In large mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugars, vanilla, salt, and vinegar. Beat in the egg, then the baking soda and flour. Stir in the chocolate chips.
• Drop the dough by the teaspoonful onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, until they're golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on wire rack.

*I admit it,  I don't know what butter brickle is, but it sounds yummy.