Saturday, August 2, 2008

NY Times Chocolate Chip Recipe


Have you heard of the New York Times best chocolate chip cookie recipe?

Last night I was talking to a friend who said she hadn't heard of it. I wasn't going to share this experience until I realized that there were still some people missing out on the big secret.
Have they found the secret to a perfect cookie? Last Friday I made the dough. I baked some on Saturday, I baked some on Sunday and the bittersweet part is that they still taste amazing nearly a week later. Bittersweet because I can't stop breaking off little bites and I am not too sure my body needs it.

I had to make changes to the recipe, because of convenience. I notice that I am not the only one who is using chocolate chips and not chocolate discs, Orangette blogged about her experience.
I also used regular flour in recipe and not bread flour with cake flour.

So the thing about these cookies that was interesting to me............

1) Sea salt is added on top. This brings out the sweetness in the cookie.
2) The fact that the batter has to sit in fridge for a very long time. This really develops the flavor.

I always read recipes until the end but this time I missed something and baked them 12 hours later instead of 24 hours later. Then I made a dozen the next day and a dozen two days later.

Batch number 1 (12 hours later)
The first batch I sprinkled with sea salt and brought some cookies to a chef friend to try.
They're good, they're brown, they're moist but I think you should add coarse sea salt.
Batch number 2 ( 24 hours later)
I added the coarse sea salt on top and brought them to a few of my friends. They loved them.
The cookies really tasted better after 24 hours of mingling in the fridge. I could imagine how the chocolate chips felt. They were squished between the thighs of the heaps of dough. The chocolate chips needed to be hugged in this chilly weather.

Another thing I have to add is the baking time, 18- 20 minutes is a long time. Next time I will try to bake them a little less. I was doing a million things at the same time so my timer was the indication that the cookies wanted out. Everyone loved them but I would have wanted a softer cookie.

Try them and you will be hooked. Please let me know what you think.

Note: I have a little thing I do when I make cookies. I save some of the chocolate chips on the side. This way I put some chocolate chips on top, right before they go into the oven. This makes sure that the chocolate chips are on the top of the cookie.


The recipe

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