Best ever chocolate chip cookies

This is my to go to recipe for chocolate chip cookies. I’ve tried plenty of recipes but this is the best one by a long shot. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been baking these chocolate chip cookies and am always very pleased with the results.

I first encountered this New York Times recipe before I left for Le Cordon Bleu and with my limited baking abilities, I already found them to turn out very delicious. After baking them a couple of times, I stored this recipe in my recipe archive and before long, they were forgotten. Has this ever happened to any of you?

I only remembered about them after returning from New York earlier this year.

You see, I was looking to bake some chocolate chip cookies after trying the famed Levain Bakery’s humongous chocolate chip cookies. I didn’t think I would fall head over heels in love with a cookie, and definitely not chocolate chip. When it comes to cookies/biscuits, I love the sablés varierty – buttery, crumbly, incredibly short. And chocolate chip cookies just don’t fall into this category. That was before I had a bite of  Levain Bakery’s chocolate chip cookie.

It was a Spring morning and my friend and I joined the short queue at Levain Bakery after taking a leisurely stroll across a small part of Central Park. My first thought was US$4 for a cookie; you must be crazy. After a bite, I knew that I had to get another one. Because it was a very big and thick cookie – the center was still gooey and oozing lots of chocolatey goodness. I prefer them to a be a little more chewy though.

When I returned, I knew I had to make my own chocolate chip cookie. I tried a couple of recipes before remembering about this one.

I think that this recipe finds the best balance between a chewy and crispy cookie. The edges are crispy and the center is chewy and the rest (48hr is ideal, in my opinion) that you give the cookie dough is absolutely essential in giving the chocolate chip cookie its chewy center. It is not a complicated recipe at all, just one that requires pre-planning and good chocolate.

You would need to follow the recipe and bake the cookies according to this size as this will give the cookies the right texture.

The recipe seem to yield a lot of cookies but trust me, you wouldn’t want to make just== half a batch because they are so additive! In any case, you don’t have to bake all the dough at once; you can always store the cookie dough away in the fridge/freezer for a later date where all you need to do is to bake them.

You can thank me later.

 

 

The best ever chocolate chip cookies (NY Times Chocolate chip cookies)
Makes 32 large cookies

These cookies are the perfect chocolate chip cookies. The cookies have a crisp exterior, giving way to a chewy center and the chocolate chip are still slightly gooey and melts as you bite through the cookie.

Ingredients:
240g Cake flour
240g Bread flour
1 and 1/4 tsp Baking soda
1.5tsp Double acting baking powder
1.5 tsp coarse salt
285g unsalted butter
285g light brown sugar
225g granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
365g 60% dark chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips)
additional sprinkling of Fleur de sel

Method:
1. Sift dry ingredients and set aside
2. Cream butter and sugar (both brown and granulated) until light and fluffy for about 5 mins. Add one egg at the time and mix well to combine. Stir in the vanilla extract.
3. Add in sifted dry ingredients at low speed in about 3 additions. Mix until just incorporated.
4. Add in chocolate chunks/chip. Mix in to combine and divide the dough into two or three portions and cling wrap them. Refrigerate the dough for about 24 hr – 36 hr. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
5. Using an standard size ice cream scoop, scoop the cookies onto a lined baking tray, giving them room to spread. I only bake 6 cookies per tray. I sprinkle some fleur de sel over the cookies before baking.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 150 degrees celcius, fan forced oven (or 175 degrees celcius, convection oven) for about 18 t0 20 mins, until golden brown on the edges but still soft. The cookie may seem a bit soft at this point but they will continue to cook and harden as you take it out from the oven to cool for about 10 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack to cool further.  Eat them slightly warm with a glass of milk or store the cookies in an air tight container when they are cooled completely.