Chocolate Chip Cookie Quest

While I wouldn't say my sweet tooth is back, I can now eat small amounts of sugar without getting sick, so I have made a couple of chocolate chip cookie recipes the last couple of weeks that I've been wanting to try for a while. The first was from America's Test Kitchen and claimed to be the best ever Chocolate Chip Cookie. They browned the butter before using it to give it a carmel flavor, then before adding the flour, they stirred the batter and let it sit for a few minutes several times to get all of the liquid absorbed into the dry ingredients. The taste was good, but they were greasy and really flat, so I'm not going to bother posting the recipe.

The second recipe I tried was from the NY Times and also claimed to be the best ever Chocolate Chip Cookie. I'll let you read the article about it because I found the science behind it really interesting. This recipe calls to refrigerate the dough for 24 to 36 hours. I made the first batch at about 22 hours, and they were all right, but not amazing. Then I got lazy and left the dough in my fridge for a week before I made the second batch, and it was AWESOME! I'm sure they would have tasted good about 36 hours as well. The other key is to sprinkle the dough with sea salt right before baking. Just go with it. They were fluffy, had a great texture and flavor and will probably replace my childhood recipe when I've got the time to make them ahead.

Here's the article link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/09chip.html

NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookie
2 cups minus 2 T cake flour (8 1/2 oz)
1 2/3 cup bread flour (8 1/2 oz)
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp course salt (I used Real salt)
2 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar (10 oz)
1 cup plus 2 T sugar (8 oz)
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 lbs bittersweet chocolate disks (the article talks about what kind to use. I used a mix of Ghirardelli's bittersweet chips and semisweet.)
Sea salt

Sift flours, baking soda, baking posder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugars together until very light. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. On low speed, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Gently stir in chocolate pieces. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate 24-36 hours. Can be refrigerated up to 72 hours. (or a week...)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18-20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cook a bit more. Eat warm.

I actually measured the ingredients on the kitchen scale to make sure it was accurate, though I'm sure it would turn out if you measure it. And I made them the size it called for, which produced an amazing cookie.
~L