A Muse in My Kitchen
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Who doesn’t like chocolate chip cookies?
I long for the days when I would eat them as fast as I can scoop the gooey morsels off the hot pan.
One…then two…three…
and beyond that, I would never admit to how many.
I stopped making them years ago because of my inability to stop reasonably. It’s like my jelly bean addiction. If I don’t buy them, I don’t eat them. Makes sense, right?
Tonight we had our daughter and grandson over and it was time to revisit chocolate chip cookies. Traditionally, I’ve always made the recipe on the back of the Nestles’ package and never ventured beyond that. In browsing the web and some of my favorite bloggers, the New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie kept popping up.
My curiosity was aroused. What made this recipe different from what I’ve been making over the years?
Several things were different than the traditional recipe I had been making…cake flour and bread flour instead of all purpose flour; course salt, double the vanilla (and chocolate chips), AND letting the dough sit for 24 – 36 hours. Seriously? I have to wait a day to make a cookie I’m dying for today?
I took a deep breath and followed the rules…24 hours later I started baking the little gems.
The recipe called for sprinkling the dough balls with sea salt before baking.
And 24 hours later…here they are. The 24 hour frig time allowed for the flavors to meld together giving a deeper flavor to the dough…you can definitely taste the extra vanilla! I loved the course salt in the dough and the touch of sea salt on top. Sweet and salty!
Waiting 24 hours was bit of a stretch but worth it! So here you have it….THE New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.
- 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8½ ounces) cake flour
- 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 chocolate chips
- Sea salt
- Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
- 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.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
- 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.
- Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day.
