Recipe: Actually Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chewy, gooey, and all the good things.
I have exactly one talent when it comes to baking, and it is these perfect chocolate chip cookies, based on Jacques Torres’s famous cookies, with a few tweaks to deepen the flavor and make them even chewer—I bake the for exactly 16 minutes, and replace 1/4 cup of the white sugar with 1/4 brown sugar. I also rarely measure anything in cooking, but it’s worth pulling out a baking scale (I use my coffee scale) to get the measurements exactly right.
You will need:
8 ½ ounces cake flour
8 ½ 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 unsalted butter
12 ounces light brown sugar
6 ounces granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
2 eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds high-quality, bittersweet chocolate disks
Maldon, or another flaky salt, for finishing
How to make them:
Add dry ingredients (flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt) to a medium bowl and set aside.
Per the original recipe, “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 dough, the size of golf balls, onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up. Sprinkle lightly with flaky salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 16 minutes.
Per the original recipe, “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.”
