NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

NY Times recipe by David Leite who states, “You may have memorized the foolproof gem on the back of the Toll House bag, given to the world by Ruth Graves Wakefield in the 1930s. But this may become your new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. It’s a little more complicated, and you’ll have to plan ahead: after assembling the dough, you must chill it for at least 24 hours before baking it, and preferably up to 36. This allows the dry ingredients time to soak up the wet ones, which results in a firmer dough. It leads to a marvelously chewy, chocolate-rich cookie. Don’t skimp on good chocolate, and the sea salt is not an option — it’s the beacon at the top of this gorgeous treat. (You can certainly put this recipe together by hand, but a stand mixer makes it easy work.)”

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NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • Total time: 45 Minutes
  • Servings: 3-4 Dozen

Ingredients

  • 2 Cups minus 2 Tbsp (8 1/2 oz) Cake Flour
  • 1 2/3 Cups (8 1/2 oz) Bread Flour
  • 1 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp Coarse Salt
  • 2 1/2 Sticks (1 1/4 cups) Unsalted Butter
  • 1 1/4 Cups (10 oz) Light Brown Sugar
  • 1 Cup plus 2 Tbsp (8 oz) Granulated Sugar
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 2 tsp Natural Vanilla Extract
  • 1 1/4 lbs Bittersweet Chocolate Disks or Fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content
  • Sea Salt

Directions

  • 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°F. 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.

Notes

From the website:

“I think this recipe is unnecessarily fussy. The difference between the two kinds of flours is their protein content — bread flour has 12.7% (per King Arthur Flour’s website), cake flour has 9.4%, and all-purpose flour has 11.7%. The amounts of flour called for in the recipe are equal by weight, so the protein content of the combined bread and cake flours is 11.05%, which is practically the same as all-purpose flour. So I just used plain, old AP flour and the cookies turned out fine.”

“I have adapted the recipe over the years, including pre-scooping the cookies onto a wax paper-lined cookie sheet and refrigerating them prior to baking. I find it much easier to do it this way than trying to scoop cold dough. I bake what I want and put the rest in a zip-lock bag to bake later.”

“The longer the dough rested in the fridge the better it tasted. I baked it at 6 hours, 24 & 48 hours. Let me tell ya, it tasted the best after it has rested for 48.”

“Do not over bake, I found that on a good baking sheet with a good silicon sheet, that 14 to 15 min is perfect for a nice soft cookie.”

“I learned a trick from Cooks Illustrated that I have used for several recipes, including CC cookies. Use cold butter. Place about 2/3 of butter in a skillet, melt and then lightly brown the butter. Pour browned butter over cold butter in mixing bowl and mix until cold butter is melted. Mix in sugars (1/2 Lt brown and 1/2 Dk brown), salt, eggs and vanilla. Mix thoroughly, then allow to sit for 3 minutes. Mix 30 seconds, then repeat twice. Then continue with recipe. Sugars develop beautifully!”

“I went for “normal” size cookies, using a tablespoon size scoop (so old it is not numbered as they are now). The recipe made 7 dozen cookies. That would change the calculus considerably. Those are giant cookies!”

“All purpose flour is what I use for this recipe and it’s perfect! However, tonight I used the cake and bread flour as the recipe suggested. What a mistake! The cookie was on the heavier side and it’s more cakey. My kids wondered what happened and demanded the original cookie. Will definitely be sticking to all purpose flour from now on.”

Source: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015819-chocolate-chip-cookies