Desserts/Pastries

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

Finding the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe is near impossible. A few years ago, the NY Times published a pretty extensive article about these iconic cookies and interviewed some of the top experts in all things chocolate and cookie related. They talked about the importance of the quality of chocolate, temperature, types of flour and even aging the dough.

And the good news is, the Chocolate Chip Cookies they published are freaking delicious.

My sister made these for us a few years ago and I’ve loved them every since. Fantastic texture—somehow both chewy and crispy. And with the light sprinkle of sea salt on the top—just LOVELY!

 

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

The dough comes together fairly easy—though it does require two types of flour.Β  Unfortunately the hardest part is having to wait 36 hours to age the dough before you can bake it. Just killer!

But don’t let the time deter you from making them because these cookies are amazing. They were a hit with my co-workers and it’s always been one of my rules of thumb to keep the people you work with happy and fed. πŸ™‚

____________________________________________

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Jacques Torres
Yields 16 5-inch cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content
Sea salt

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 1/2-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.

38 thoughts on “New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

  1. Hi!!
    Those chocolate chip cookies look so yummy! I’ve always heard about the NY Times, what are they?… Just kidding, they have a fabulous bread recipe, that is off the hook!! I’m glad to find you on foodbuzz, and will be subscribing (;
    Happy cooking, eating, and searching, good eats (:

    Juju

  2. Remember how I tried to send you a FB link but you couldn’t see it? Well it was “Ruth Wakefield vs Jacques Torres: The Cookie Experiment” — about how my friend did an experiment, making the famous Nestle Tollhouse Original recipe (but age it 2-3 nights, which Nestle does but didn’t put in the recipe) and pitting it against the NYTimes one. She had a group of people judge which was better. It was a wash! Some liked the NYTimes one, and some liked Nestle! Here is the conclusion she wrote at the end:

    “A summary of what I heard from most test subjects: the Torres cookies were quite tasty, and the salt did something new and different, that was appreciable by most (but there were some who would rather have enjoyed the cookie without salt). The Torres cookies definitely looked more presentable, compared to the darker, more humble appearance of the Tollhouse cookies. However, Tollhouse brought back memories of a traditional cookie, very rich and homely, filled with every bite an equal amount of salt, caramel and semi-sweet chocolate goodness; overall, it was still the fan favorite–history is hard to beat!”

    I recently tried the Nestle one (aged 2 days), and I was super happy with the results. Next is this recipe that you have raved about twice on your blog! πŸ™‚ MISS YOU, NAM!!!

  3. I think the Ideas in Food people ran with the NYT article and found out that the same benefits of the 36 hour dough resting can be accomplished in only 1 hour if you vacuum bag the dough. The idea was that vacuum bagging sped up the diffusion of chocolatey oils throughout the dough, which was the main effect that made the 36 hour resting period essential.

  4. How did you get them so beautifully round? My cookies always end up spreading themselves out til they’re practically wafers! I’m making these tomorrow for my boyfriend who i havent seen for weeks so I need to avoid any mis-haps. I know they will taste just the same but I want them to be as perfect as these!!

      1. I forgot to say thank you! They were SO delicious, everyone loved them and I must have got about 50 out of that batch!! Cannot wait to make these again!

  5. Made the cookies, loved them. I’m moving on to the key lime cheesecake that looks to die for. I really love your blog.

  6. That is a good tip especially to those new to the blogosphere.

    Brief but very accurate information… Many thanks for sharing this one.
    A must read article!

  7. It’s going to be finish of mine day, however before finish I am reading this wonderful article to improve my experience.

  8. Hello just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why
    but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different internet browsers and both show the same results.

  9. So there are so many designs in this metal that you will never find in traditional precious metals used for adult
    jewelry. You can wear these ornaments on your navel button, nose, lips,
    and ears and on any other body part by piercing your skin.
    Now, the durable material is impacting the whole jewelry market – besides necklaces, rings, earrings ass well as pendants made of this particular metal
    are getting a lot of attention for people of all walks of life.

Leave a reply to Hong Cancel reply