Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 4 tbspbutter — softened, not melted
• 1/4 cupbrown sugar — packed
• 2 tbspgranulated sugar
• 1egg yolk
• 1/2 tspvanilla extract
• 3/4 cupall-purpose flour
• 1/4 tspbaking soda
• 1/4 tspfine sea salt
• 1/2 cupchocolate chips — check the label — many are made on shared nut lines

Method

1. 01

   Beat the butter and both sugars with a wooden spoon until creamy and lightened, about 2 minutes of honest effort. Beat in the yolk and vanilla.

2. 02

   Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt until just combined — streaks of flour barely gone — then fold in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough 15 minutes; soft dough spreads into puddles in the concentrated heat.

3. 03

   Roll into 6 equal balls and set them on a parchment liner cut to fit your basket, at least 2 inches apart — they spread. Cook in two rounds of three if your basket is snug.

4. 04

   Air fry at 320°F for 8 minutes, until the edges are set and golden but the centers still look slightly underdone and glossy. Air fryers run hot with the element close overhead, so check at 6 minutes the first time — the line between chewy and crunchy is about 60 seconds.

5. 05

   Here's the doneness test that matters for cookies: they should NOT pass a toothpick test in the center when they come out. Let them finish on the liner for 5 full minutes — they set as they cool. Moving them early ends in delicious rubble.