Before we roll our sleeves up and get our hands dirty, let's talk about something we can all agree on — cookies, chocolate chip specifically. According to Business Insider, Americans consume 7 billion chocolate chip cookies every year. This works itself out to about 22 cookies a pop annually, with some of us overachievers picking up the slack for everyone else. But why? What's made this type of cookie a timeless treasure over macadamia, double fudge, and oatmeal raisin?

Well, the dough is where it all starts and it is traditionally broken down into two parts: wet and dry ingredients. First, the butter, vanilla, milk, eggs — champions in their own rights and present in larger quantities, these ingredients together serve as the bulk and foundation of our dough. Next, the dry ingredients — flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar — are seldom found at the forefront alone, but much like the role they serve in our cookies, they are responsible for the cohesiveness of anything they are part of. Finally, the chocolate chips, their influence to the final product is not only important but defining. Unlike the rest of the ingredients, chocolate chips do not mix and become part of the batter, they become an important part while remaining distinguishable from the moment it joins the other ingredients, through the baking process, to the point where it finally finds its way to satisfy a hungry consumer.