Everyone seems to have a set of characteristics that embody their perfect chocolate chip cookie – whether they like them chewy or crispy or with or without nuts. Well, I say throw all your preconceived notions of what a chocolate chip cookie should be and go ahead and make this recipe. The secrets? I think it boils down to: lots of butter, brown and granulated sugar, salt and resting time. Salt is now the “secret” of most baked goods that come out of my kitchen.
The recipe calls for both cake (or pastry) flour and bread flour, but all-purpose flour splits the difference on protein content between the two of them, so I’m certain these would still turn out terrific with what you are most likely to have on hand. I was unaware of the bread flour in the pantry, so the recipe I made was a mix of cake flour and all-purpose flour and they turned out excellent. And if you have it or can get your hands on it, these cookies do well with high-quality bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate. I won’t lie – used 16 ounces of grocery store semi-sweet chocolate chips and 4 ounces of chopped unsweetened chocolate to the complaint of no one. All in all, the recipe is written as I made it, but check out the source for Jacque’s “perfect” way to make ‘em.
I made these with a small cookie scoop – #50, about the size of a good, rounded tablespoon – and it made about 70 cookies (!). If you decide to make them a little bigger, keep the oven at the same temperature, but increase the time by a couple minutes. As always, just keep an eye on them and when in doubt, trust your nose. Once the smell overwhelms your kitchen, they’re done.
Adapted from NYTimes.com.
Makes 60-70 two-inch cookies.
Ingredients
1 3/4 cup cake flour
2 cups all-purpose flour (you’ll still get great results if you use 3 3/4 cups AP flour instead of the mix)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt plus more for sprinkling
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
20 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, in chips or chunks
Preparation
1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.
2. Using a mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars on medium speed until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Mix in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture until just combined (do not over mix).
3. Mix in chocolate chips or chunks on low speed until just incorporated. You may want to finish stirring them in by hand.
4. Press plastic wrap right on top of the dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. Use a #50 scoop to place mounds of dough onto baking sheet or roll rounded tablespoons of dough into balls and place onto baking sheet.
7. Sprinkle each scoop with sea salt and bake until golden brown, 12 to 13 minutes. If baking two sheets at once, rotate racks and turn each sheet 180 degrees halfway through time.
8. Let cookies cool on sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough or reserve and refrigerate dough for up to 48 more hours.
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