The Perfect Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

I've been baking for a few years now and most of the recipes that I make have become so familiar to me that I figured I should start to try and make them even better. I need a bit of a challenge in the kitchen. Hence today's experiment.
I'm a huge sucker for chewy, gooey cookies, but have never actually been able to make them, despite how I adjust my baking time. So I decided to look to the internet for some guidance and randomly came across this website/recipe: http://www.squidoo.com/chocolatechipcookierecipe

3/4 cup margarine or softened unsalted butter
1 cup golden brown sugar
1/4 sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt (only if you're using butter)
LOTS of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream margarine and sugars until creamy. Add egg and vanilla and blend. Stir in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt (only if you are using butter). Add lots of yummy chocolate chips and stir them in!

Drop by tablespoon onto a greased baking sheet. If you want thick cookies, leave the dough mounded. If you prefer flatter cookies, press the dough gently into a disc.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

It was simple enough. A very basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, amplified with a secret (but common sense) ingredient: corn starch. My first experience with corn starch was when I made a lemon meringue pie, which ended up as a successful dish, so I was optimistic about using corn starch on my cookies.

I usually just follow the Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe on the bag of the chocolate chip bag, with a few of my own alterations. The recipe I found tonight was a bit different, using less white sugar, more brown sugar, and one less egg. I decided to spice them up a bit and added some leftover coconut shavings.

All in all, they turned out great. As far as "chewy" goes, they missed the mark, but they are soft and delicious. Pretty much the perfect consistency for me. And I love the coconut/chocolate combo. Definitely a favorite. These were nice because they weren't as sweet as the Nestle version. I used a whole 12 oz. pack of chocolate chips (minus the ones I snacked on beforehand), so the center of the cookie is this lovely chocolate that was nice and gooey a few minutes out of the oven. Paired with the vanilla almond milk I bought today, this was the perfect Sunday dessert!

I baked only the dozen tonight. The leftover batter is waiting in the fridge to be eaten raw or for when I feel like roasting in my air-conditionless apartment again.

Happy baking!