New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are famous. Celebrity Chocolate Chip Cookies. A Google search for New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies results in over 100,000 hits. That’s a lot of cookies…and a lot of cookie lovers. Chocolate Chip Cookies have always been my favorite cookie. There’s just nothing quite like a freshly baked, warm Chocolate Chip Cookie. I alternate between two recipes that I really love, one of which I’m sharing here today. I’ve been making this particular one for many years. With its crispy edges and soft, chocolate-filled melty interior, this cookie easily satisfies all of my chocolate chip cookie cravings. I’ll tell you all about it, but first, a stroll down my Chocolate Chip Cookie past…

The CCC and I go way back. The most memorable one I ever ate was in Oxford, England. I was lucky enough to spend the summer after my junior year of high school there. I took a couple of summer classes for high school students while staying at one of the Oxford University dorms. My small corner room had a view of a cemetery on one side and a lively pub on the other..a little creepy and a lot interesting.

I loved walking around Oxford in between classes. My favorite place to frequent was Oxford’s Covered Market, partly because I love markets (covered and uncovered) and partly because it was there that I was introduced to Ben’s Cookies and my best friend that summer, Milk Chocolate Chunk Cookie. I was young and a cookie novice, but I knew that cookie was special – slightly crisp on the outside, warm and soft with generously-sized milk chocolate chunks in every bite. I became instantly hooked and for many days that summer, I found myself strolling the streets of Oxford holding a bag of Ben’s Cookies and munching as I explored. Good times…just me and CCC.

Last week, in the midst of an intense Chocolate Chip Cookie craving, I longingly remembered that cookie and I decided to look it up, like people do when pondering about an old love. As it turns out, Ben’s Cookies are still going strong and they’ve even expanded with stores in various cities around the world, including two in New York City. Online ordering is coming soon too. Thank you God.

I wish I knew the recipe for that amazing cookie. I’m determined to work on one and then share it with you, but for now, here is another dreamy cookie that I also love and make often. It is a little fussy in terms of some of the ingredients and their very precise measurements, but I don’t mind given the delicious results.

The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe was first developed by pastry chef and chocolatier, Jacques Torres. Why all the hype? This cookie has crisp edges, a soft and chewy center, and is loaded with over one pound of bittersweet chocolate in every batch. I like using these chocolate chips, which are larger and wider than regular chocolate chips and closer to the pricey chocolate disks called for in the original recipe. But, regular chocolate chips work too or try using high quality bittersweet chocolate bars cut into chunks for a special treat.

The secret to these cookies lies in its ingredients and in the resting time of the dough. Aside from the amount of chocolate, which is significantly more than other Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes use, the main difference in these is in the flours. A combination of bread flour and cake flour is used to achieve a chewy, but not overly dense cookie. Neither one of these flours is typically used on its own for cookie making. Bread flour is too heavy and cake flour too light for cookies, but when combined in just the right amounts, they balance each other out nicely.

Plan ahead. This recipe requires resting the dough in the refrigerator for 24-36 hours prior to baking. Apparently, this allows the dry ingredients time to absorb more thoroughly resulting in a better cookie with a chewier interior. I know that waiting a whole day for cookies isn’t for everyone, but I happen to prefer this method. I like being able to have cookie dough ready to pop into the oven on baking day and find that breaking up the process into two days makes the whole task easier. It’s also nice to be able to bake just as many cookies as you want and leave the rest for the next day. Having freshly baked Chocolate Chip Cookies for a few days in a row makes for a very happy week. Oh and in case you’re wondering, I actually have baked these immediately after preparing the dough. The result – still a good and tasty cookie, but the rested ones do have a better texture, in my opinion.

This recipe suggests forming the dough into large 3.5 ounce balls. I don’t know about you, but I have no idea what size that is aside from “large”. And, although I do have a kitchen scale, I skipped this step and just used my cookie scoop to form golf ball-sized dough balls. The other step I usually deviate from is the sprinkling of sea salt on the dough balls prior to baking. I’m sure it would be delicious though and it is part of the original recipe.

You may notice in these photos that I included pieces of milk chocolate in these. It’s my way of honoring Ben and his amazing Milk Chocolate Chunk Cookie, the inspiration for this post. I chopped up a couple of bars of my favorite milk chocolate and folded them into half of the cookie dough. Too much chocolate? Never.

If you’re like me and you can appreciate the delight and satisfaction in a perfectly chocolaty, warm cookie, pour yourself a glass of cold milk and give these New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies a try. They are good for the soul.

Adapted (slightly modified) from The New York Times