Name: Perfect chocolate chip cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 18
Ingredients: 40 ½ ounces cake flour; 40 ½ ounces bread flour; 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder; 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda; 1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt; 2 ¾ cups butter (2-1/2 sticks cut into large cubes); 10 ounces light brown sugar; 8 ounces sugar; 2 eggs; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 20 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips; sea salt (for garnish)

Recipes

Perfect chocolate chip cookies recipe

By ForkingSpoon

Mar 1, 2019

1.67k

I think I first realized that not all chocolate chip cookies were created equal over a bowl of Cookie Crisp. My younger siblings had successfully petitioned my mom to make a change from Fruity Pebbles to Cookie Crisp during our weekly shopping trip and I was… upset. After a truly epic tantrum,* I resolved that my first bowl of this ridiculous cookie cereal with a wizard on the box would not be a pleasant one — for anyone. Needless to say, Saturday morning cartoons were ruined and I resolved never to eat another chocolate chip cookie made by a dog food company again. Of course I had another bowl the following Saturday and a year or so later, I would even eat a handful of their actual dog food but that’s a different story.

I may have been weak as a kid when it came to Cookie Crisp and Voltron but it remains a questionable cereal with unquestionably terrible “cookies” — and no wave of the cookie wand is ever going to change that. I decided some time ago that my childhood resolution to avoid cookies made by dog food companies may have been naive and borne of irrational anger but it was inherently a good idea. Factory cookies are just dog treats for humans, homemade cookies are delicious.

After years of casually searching and experimenting for the perfect chocolate chip cookies, I managed to miss this truly incredible recipe from NYT Cooking that they adapted from a recipe by Jacques Torres (Mr. Chocolate and cookie genius) back in 2008. Somehow, I skimmed right over the definitive chocolate chip cookie of our generation. Clearly if I was to continue on the path I set for myself that fateful Saturday morning — angrily shoving cookies into my mouth — I need to take notes and sometimes write about them.

The brilliance of this recipe was not lost on my fellow food bloggers here, here, here, here, here and here, but despite their comprehensive chronicling, I’m forced to include the recipe on this website as well, ForkingSpoon wouldn’t feel complete without it — it’s too amazing not to have. These oversized cookies are chewy on the inside, crisp and perfectly cracked on the outside, dense (but not too dense) and sweet (but not too sweet). They’re really the perfect chocolate chip cookie.**

There is a slight downside though. This recipe is much more involved than your average cookie recipe but that’s only because it’s so much better than those are. The recipe does have a lot to teach though if you’re just starting to learn to bake from scratch. If you’ve never made these before, definitely follow the recipe as closely as possible the first time before you get impatient or jump into experimentation or you’ll be doing yourself a grave disservice.

Recipe from www.nytimes.com.

* A breakfast cereal meltdown might be silly and embarrassing when you’re an adult, but as a kid it can seem pretty important. I mean it’s not like your smartphone battery died on the subway or you just found out that McDonald’s doesn’t serve chicken nuggets for breakfast.

** With one caveat. I know this might seem crazy to some people, but I actually prefer fewer chocolate chips than is called for in this recipe for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. It’s not an aversion to chocolate (I assure you), but the cookie part of the cookie is really the best part of the cookie and can easily be ruined for me when it’s overloaded with chocolate chips. If you’re weird like me, just use a single bag of chocolate chips (usually 12 ounces) of quality chocolate.

Image: ForkingSpoon

Perfect chocolate chip cookies recipe

Yields18 Servings

The definitive recipe for perfect chocolate chip cookies. Chewy, crispy, dense, buttery and sweet, these masterful treats are as impressive as any bakery's.

Prep Time15 minsCook Time20 minsTotal Time35 mins

Ingredients

40 ½ ounces cake flour

40 ½ ounces bread flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt

2 ¾ cups butter (2-1/2 sticks cut into large cubes)

10 ounces light brown sugar

8 ounces sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

20 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips

sea salt (for garnish)

Instructions

Sift the dry ingredients
Sift the cake flour, bread flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Whisk the brown sugar and granulated sugar together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Soften the butter
Using butter that is cold but that easily leaves an imprint of your finger when pressed, beat the butter in a stand mixer set to low (or medium-low) until softened for about 1 minute. For a few seconds only, run the mixer on high to clear the butter from the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

Don't be impatient and microwave the butter as that will overheat the butterfat and break the emulsification even though the butter may still look solid. Even turning the mixer to medium for softening may warm the butter too much.

Cream the butter and sugar
Add the mixed sugar to the softened butter in a steady stream while the mixer is set to low. Once the sugar has been added, increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the mixture for 2 minutes or until it becomes pale yellow and aerated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Turn the mixer to low and add each egg, one at a time, allowing for each one to fully incorporate. Mix in the vanilla, followed by the sifted flour, and then finally the chocolate chips (about 1 to 2 minutes). Quickly fold the dough together a couple of times with a spatula to incorporate any remaining flour or butter from the sides of the bowl.

Refrigerate the cookie dough
Wrap the cookie dough in plastic wrap and transfer to a freezer bag or an airtight container. Refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours (or up to 72 hours). You can skip the refrigeration step if you can't stand the sight of uneaten cookie dough, but these cookies are only great (not perfect) if you cook them right away. Wait at least 36 hours if you can, it really does make a huge difference.

Bake the cookies
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Scoop or spoon the dough into 6 3-1/2-ounce mounds — about the size of a slightly oversized golf ball). Place the cookie dough balls evenly on a baking pan or insulated cookie sheet lined with a parchment paper. Sprinkle each cookie ball with a small amount of sea salt and bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Notes

Don't make this thinking you'll have some of the cookies to munch on later that day — or even the next day. Try some of the cookie dough from the bowl if you must, but put that dough in the refrigerator and forget about it for at least 36 to 72 hours. At least 36 hours. It really does make the difference from competent, kind-of-impressive cookies to jaw-dropping, carry-you-on-their-shoulders, name-a-street-after-you, baking superhero cookies. Follow the directions and you might get your own street. Also, don't forget the salt.