1.24.2012

ultimate chocolate chip cookie

Do superlatives such as "best" and "ultimate" pique your curiosity?  Or do you roll your eyes?  What comes to my mind is one of two things: You're really cocky and are prone to exaggeration.  Or, you've got quite the item on hand and can't wait for everyone else to try it.

This chocolate chip cookie falls in the latter category. Fabulous, decadent, delicious. The texture is perfectly crispy on the outer edge, chewy as you move towards the middle, and then just a little soft in the center.

For a NY Times article, David Leite researched this cookie and adapted it from Mr. Chocolate, Jacques Torres' recipe. It differs from most other chocolate chip cookie recipes in a few ways. The dough calls for two different kinds of flours (cake and bread) and the dough needs to rest for a 36-hour period (which allows it to fully soak up the eggs and develop deeper flavor.)

The recipe also calls for chocolate disks, or fèves. I got Valrhona fèves at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's sells them as callets. If you can't find them, chocolate chips are fine.


 
The last little extra is Fleur de sel, which is lightly sprinkled on top. Fleur de sel, with irregularly shaped crystals, is a moist, mild tasting finishing salt. Don't use any sea salt, it really needs to be Fleur de sel.

(You can see that I forgot the salt on these! Still delish.)

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie

2 c. minus 2 Tbsp. (8 1/2 oz.) cake flour
1 2/3 c. (8 1/2 oz.) bread flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/4 c. (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 c. + 2 Tbsp. (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
20 oz. bittersweet chocolate disks or feves, at least 60% cacao content
Fleur de sel (for sprinkling)
Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.


When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.


Scoop 6 3.5-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day.


Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

n.b. I made them slightly smaller at 2.5-ounces and baked for about 16 minutes. They still are huge.

This post is linked to the following:  show and shareholiday haventatertots and jello, i'm lovin' itfrugal girlsshow and telltasty tuesdaystip me tuesdayhome stories a to zcrazy sweet tuesdaywow me wednesdaysugar and dotssomewhat simplesomething swanky, momnivores dilemmaSundae Scoopmade by you mondaysthis chick cooks, friday flair,  c.r.a.f.t., show me what you got, saturday 7 party, it's party time

7 comments:

  1. Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies and milk..... perfect for a winter day! (Although it happens to be sunny and 60 degrees right now!) OK, still perfect!

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  2. Holy Moly, these look amazing! :) This is seriously making me hungry!
    the word 'ulimate' makes my eyes widen & mouth drool... they look ultimate to me! :)
    And thank you for stopping by (I haven't tried making the Korean fish side dish yet, but I plan on making it sometime) :) Hope you had a wonderful New Years!
    -Jane @ urbanejane.com

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  3. I'm always searching for a good choc chip recipe and this sounds just my type. I'll have to look out for the ingredients it uses, hopefully I can find them.

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  4. We're still working on a batch of the chocolate oatmeal crispies. I'll have to finish those off faster so that I'll have an excuse to make these...

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  5. Two words DROOL...ING!!! Lol! I'm having a linky party as well, and would love for you to join it! Here is the link http://www.thesouthernproductqueen.com/one-stop-s... Thanks for sharing!

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  6. These were great! I have to say, though, that I did not have the just-right sea salt, so I omitted that step. Also, both my bread flour and pastry flour are whole wheat. They turned out great. I'm sure the flour's flavor is stronger with the whole wheat, but we're used to it. These were just as easy to make as "plain" chocolate chip cookies, but much tastier. And they develop patience in grown ups and children alike! Thank you, again, Rebecca!

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  7. Your recipe got the most clicks in my Famous Linkz Party. I highlighted you today in my post!!

    Hugs,
    Heather @ www.made-famous-by.com

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