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  1. Wednesday, December 2, 2009

    New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

    I’m a little obsessed with chocolate chip cookies. Okay, maybe a lot obsessed. Nate can attest to this fact. Which is why I LOVED this article in the New York Times. If you care at all about chocolate chip cookies, read it.

    nyt chocolate chip cookies web

    In connection with the article, the New York Times provided a recipe (adapted from Jacques Torres) that is outstanding. These cookies have it all – the crispy outside, the chewy inside, lots of chocolate. Oh la la.

    I was really excited when I first read the NYT article because the recipe that I had most recently fallen in love with was a similar recipe by none other than Jacques Torres. Jacques knows what he’s doing, let me tell ya.

    Without further ado, the recipe! I thought I would post it here on the site so I can add all my various notes on the recipe. And tomorrow I just might share with you the PERFECT chocolate chips for this recipe. But only if you’re good.

    New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
     
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    From the New York Times, adapted from Jacques Torres
    Author:
    Recipe type: Dessert
    Serves: 1½ dozen 5-inch cookies
    Ingredients
    • 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8½ ounces) cake flour (Jane note: I use pastry flour here”¦that’s what my OTHER Jacques Torres cookie recipe calls for)
    • 1⅔ cups (8½ ounces) bread flour
    • 1¼ teaspoons baking soda
    • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
    • 1½ teaspoons coarse salt
    • 2½ sticks (1¼ cups) unsalted butter
    • 1¼ cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
    • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
    • 2 large eggs
    • 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
    • 1¼ pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)
    • Sea salt (Jane note: I used salted butter and added about 1 tsp of regular salt to the recipe”¦didn’t have sea salt on hand to sprinkle on top)
    Instructions
    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. (Jane note: I do think there is something to the dough sitting over night”¦HOWEVER”¦I can’t resist and always cook cookies the night I make the dough and they still come out GRRRREAT! Promise. Feel free to bake right away! That said, don’t bake all the dough at once! You know better than that. Oh, and I’ve definitely frozen balls of dough from this recipe to great success as well.)
    3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside. (Jane note: I bake my cookies on my handy dandy Silpat.)
    4. Scoop 6 3½-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. (Jane note: I never did the ”˜transfer sheet to a wire rack then slip to another’ rack step.) (Another Jane note: one thing I DO do when they come out of the oven is sort of slam the tray straight down to force the cookies to settle”¦makes for a nice even cookie with a great texture.)

     

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 5:00 am   25 Comments
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