Receta My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies
My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies
These chocolate chip cookies are an adaptation of the famous NY Times chocolate chip cookies; they are thick, chewy and loaded with chocolate chips!
As in, my favorite right now. Well, actually, favorite for the last couple of years.
If you’ve been following along for any length of time, you know that I lived and died by the thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies from Cook’s Illustrated for ages. They were, indeed, thick and chewy, which is my absolute favorite type of cookie. Unless it’s a pizzelle or biscotti, I pretty much feel like crunchy cookies are a waste of perfectly good calories.
I was riding the thick and chewy chocolate chip cookie train until I found the NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies which are even thicker and chewier! Those are absolutely enormous cookies that are loaded with dark chocolate chunks and topped with flaked sea salt. To say they are good, or even great, is a massive understatement. I took that recipe and threw in a few tweaks to make them more of an everyday chocolate chip cookie, and I’ve been using it exclusively ever since.
So, what did I do differently? I kept the base of the cookie pretty much the same, but instead of 3+ cups of dark chocolate chunks, I use 2¾ cups of regular semisweet chocolate chips.
Side note: My husband and I have vastly different opinions when it comes to how many chocolate chips there should be in chocolate chip cookies. I fall in the “if I ever get a bite of chocolate chip cookie that doesn’t have at least TWO chips in it, I feel cheated” camp, while he is very firmly planted in the “less is more” camp. SO… if you prefer less chocolate, more cookie, I would scale back on the amount of chocolate chips in this recipe.
Next, I omitted the sprinkle of sea salt entirely – it’s great paired with the dark chocolate, but just isn’t necessary for an everyday chocolate chip cookie, in my opinion. I also cut the refrigeration time down from the recommended 72 hours to overnight, maximum. The long refrigeration really intensifies the flavors and creates almost a caramelized or browned butter taste, which, again, is great with dark chocolate and sea salt, but I really didn’t care for it in a plain chocolate chip cookie with semisweet chocolate chips. Finally, I decreased the size of the cookies from 3½ ounces of dough to 2½ ounces. They’re still quite big and hefty cookies, but a bit more manageable in terms of size.
I really adore these cookies; I made a batch a couple of weeks before Joseph was born and stashed them in the freezer, then brought a handful to the hospital with me… best decision, ever. I’ve tried to keep some in the freezer ever since; they’re my favorite sweet treat at the end of the day and don’t take long at all to thaw.
And because I can’t help myself when it comes to chocolate chip cookies… let me know if you have a favorite that I must try!
Four years ago: Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing
My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield: About 26 cookies
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 15 to 17 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
These chocolate chip cookies are an adaptation of the famous NY Times chocolate chip cookies; they are thick, chewy and loaded with chocolate chips!
Ingredients:
It is highly recommended that you use a kitchen scale and weigh the ingredients for this recipe.
- 8½ ounces (2 cups minus 2 tablespoons) cake flour
- 8½ ounces (1⅔ cups) bread flour
- 1¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 10 ounces (1¼ cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 10 ounces (1¼ cups) light brown sugar
- 8 ounces (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Sift together the cake flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and set aside.
2. Cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed until very light, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then add the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low, gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Press plastic wrap against the dough and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 24 hours.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.
4. Scoop 2½ ounces of dough, roll into a rough ball (it should be the size of a large golf ball) and place on the baking sheet, leaving at least 2 inches of space between balls of dough. Bake until the edges of the cookies are light brown and set, but the centers still look pale, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Leftover cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or wrapped in plastic wrap, placed in a freezer bag and frozen for up to 3 months.