The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie
Wednesday, June 10, 2009Update: This post was featured on Saveur’s “Best of the Web”, November 24, 2009.
As featured in Bay Area Bites, June 10, 2009.
Chocolate chip heaven
Ah, the chocolate chip cookie. A classic. An American icon. A comfort so versatile, it is as satisfying raw as it is baked.
I’m sure we’ve all sampled our share of this pervasive sweet treat, from those that were passable (but got the job done), to those that reached heights of heavenly decadence.
Chocolate chip cookie, unflattened golf ball version
I had one such cookie lately that made me wonder: What makes the ultimate chocolate chip cookie?
After deep introspection, I came to the conclusion that it must satisfy a trifecta of textural perfection. It has to be crunchy, chewy, and gooey.
I was reminded of David Leite’s fantastic NYT chocolate chip cookie article that came out almost a year ago, in which he described this much sought after “bull’s-eye” of cookie greatness. When you first bite into the cookie, the crisp outer ring should break with a nice crunch, giving way to a satisfying chew, and progressing to near gooeyness in the center of it all. If done right, you should still be able to feel the sugar granules of the cookie dough on your tongue here.
Resist the temptation to eat all of this cookie dough and you will be handsomely rewarded
And then, of course, there is flavor.
The ultimate cookie must envelope you with all the homey flavors of butter, sugar, vanilla, and rich chocolate. Generous, copious amounts of quality, semi-sweet chocolate in each bite, please!
Now, I’ve made dozens upon dozens of chocolate chip cookies before, but how come mine just never seem to reach the ultimate level of amazingness that my favorite bakeries achieve? What is their secret?
As I learned from Mr. Leite and his arsenal of choco chip experts, it’s all about patience. The trick is to let the dough rest between 24-36 hours before baking them!
I mustered up all the self restraint I had, gave it a shot, and was amazed at what a difference it made. As predicted, my cookie had a richer golden color, better texture, and had a significantly more complex flavor. The extra time allowed all the egg, butter and sugar to meld and soak into the flour so that when they baked up, the toffee caramel notes bloomed. Plus, a sprinkle of sea salt at the end adds an extra dimension to the sweetness.
Use the best ingredients you can. I went with my old faithful, unsalted, European Style Sweet Butter from Straus Family Creamery, and E. Guittard’s 61% Cacao Semisweet Couverture wafers. The quarter-sized baking discs melt well and cool with a pretty sheen. They also make for gorgeous, thin strata of luscious chocolate throughout the cookie.
Use an ice cream scoop to create golf ball sized mounds of dough that are all even. I experimented with flattening versus not flattening the mounds before baking. With the ice cream scoop mounds, not flattening resulted in a prettier cookie that was a little cakier.
My favorite batch resulted in using a ½ cup scoop, creating baseball sized mounds, and flattening it slightly so that the cookie spread a bit. The final product was a cookie with wow factor. BIG wow factor. The perfect thing for a special birthday care package.
Jumbo chocolate chip cookie, flattened baseball version
Now that’s the ultimate chocolate chip cookie.
Recipe: NYT Chocolate Chip Cookie, Adapted from Jacques Torres
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Make sure you bring some milk too!
I am salivating at the moment. I am partial to oatmeal chocolate chip cookies… if it has oatmeal, it mus be healthy. Right?
oh yeah, and i hear the calories get baked out
These chocky cookies are divine! I didn’t know that the raw dough can be eaten though, thanks for sharing^^.
Ah yes. That’s the stuff right there!
Impressive! Beyond impressive. Totally drool worthy.
Your cookies are awesome! Can I have a piece please?
There’s something about fresh gooey chocolate chip cookies that I just can’t turn down!!! All needed now is a tall glass of cold milk.
SO yummy!!!!!
Fantastic! These delightful little cookies look wonderful! yumm. my lill ones vud love to have these yumm cookies..
I wrote about these cookies on my blog too! Your rendition looks wonderful!
It looks as though you have achieved the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Yum!
I am always in the mood for a cookie. These look perfect!
Thanks, Maria! mmm i’m in the mood for one right now…
They’re almost too cute to eat! I’m definitely going to have to try this recipe. Sounds amazing.
Would like to print this receipe, but I sure don’t need pictures and all the comments. It be great if you had the receipe so I could print it.
hi Erika, unfortunately, I did not format this recipe in my usual printer-friendly version because it would have been a verbatim copy of the original recipe published on the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/091crex.html?ref=dining
happy baking!
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Risk of Salmonella <<< Happiness from great cookies. Yum
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[...] up in the whole “cupcake craze.” Magnolia? Sprinkles? Meh. I’ve always been more of a cookie gal myself. Or cheesecake. Yeah, cut me a fatty slice of cheesecake any [...]
Oh….YUM!?!?! Do you happen to remember how many giant cookies you were able to make with your 1/2 cup scoops? Fiance and I are planning to make jumbo chocolate chip cookies to give away as wedding favors.
Well congratulations to you and your fiance! great idea, i’m all about the homemade favors. I think the 1/2 cup scoops made about 12-14 cookies, but not sure exactly…good excuse to do a test run if you ask me