New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

Let me start by saying I love to make chocolate chip cookies. I'm pretty sure I love making them more than I love eating them (and trust me, I love eating them too!). In High School I swore by the typical tollhouse recipes, you know the one that is on the back of the chocolate chip package...yep, that one. They always turned out PERFECT. Chewy, moist, delicious! Somewhere along the line they started to get really flat, and I gave up on making chocolate chip cookies.

A few days ago I came across the New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies. Let me tell you these things are to die for. Seriously. I was a doubter, a total non believer. I even tried some of the uncooked dough and decided I would still love the tollhouse recipe better. I was wrong. These cookies are crunchy on the edges, chewy in the middle. Whether they are cold or hot, they are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had!

The recipe calls for the dough to be put in the fridge for 24-36 hours. The fridge time does make a difference in the flavor, but I do confess that the night I made the dough I just HAD to have a cookie right then and there. So I made two cookies (Brandon HAD to have one too!) and they were incredibly delicious even without the dough being in the fridge. Fridge or not, hands down best cookie ever!

Side Note: The recipe calls for chocolate disks. I did half ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips and half milk chocolate disks. I highly recommend trying the same, I liked the mixture of two different flavors of chocolate, and the disks melt different than the chips so it makes the texture of the cookies a little different!

Enjoy the recipe! Cheers!

Carrie


Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Jacques Torres, recipe from the NY Times
Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter1
1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks, at least 60 percent cacao content
Sea salt

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.