Ingredients:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very soft
- ¾ cup (90 g) Icing Sugar (Powdered Sugar), sifted
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 2 cups (250 g) All-Purpose Flour
- ½ cup (60 g) Cornstarch (Maizena)
- ½ teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
- ½ cup (85 g) Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Instructions:
- Whisk together the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Place the very soft butter and sifted icing sugar into the bowl of the stand mixer.
- Beat on medium-high speed for 5 to 7 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally. The mixture must become very pale, fluffy, and significantly increased in volume. This is the critical 'whipping' step.
- Beat in the vanilla extract until just combined.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing only until just combined. Stop the mixer as soon as the last streaks of flour disappear. Do not overmix.
- Gently fold in the mini chocolate chips using a rubber spatula.
- Turn the dough out onto plastic wrap. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a tight, uniform log about 1 ½ inches (4 cm) in diameter. Wrap tightly.
- Refrigerate the dough logs for a minimum of 1 hour 30 minutes, or until very firm.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove one chilled log from the fridge. Slice into rounds approximately ⅓ inch (8 mm) thick.
- Place the rounds onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart. If desired, use a fork to gently pierce each cookie round two or three times.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through. The cookies should be set and appear pale white/very light blonde; they should not brown significantly.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.