A Recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies from The Essential New York Times Cookbook

Image courtesy of The New York Times

Throw away every other recipe you have for chocolate chip cookies.

Many of the 1,400-plus recipes in The Essential New York Times Cookbook by Amanda Hesser are American classics, yet many recipes reflect how our palates have changed over the last 150 years. Red Velvet Cake, Boston Baked Beans, Mint Juleps, and Pickled Watermelon Rind are all tucked between the covers, along with Boeuf Bourguignon, Gingersnaps, Hummus, and Churros. Read Part I for the full review.

With the exception of apple pie there is perhaps no dessert as American as the chocolate chip cookie. In 2008, David Leite researched chocolate chip cookies around New York City to find the requisite parts of the perfect chocolate chip cookie. To say he succeeded is an understatement.

Don't let the 2-3 day process deceive you, these cookies are deliciously simple. For working folks, it is almost easier to make the dough one day and then bake the cookies 2-3 days later. You just have to resist the temptation of eating all the dough first.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 18 cookies

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 (See Cooking Note)
Sea salt

Directions
1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. 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.

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

4. Scoop six 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. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Cooking Note: Valrhona feves, oval-shaped chocolate pieces, are sold at Whole Foods. If you can't find the disks, just chop up 1 1/4 pounds of chocolate , use the chunks, shards and all, and your cookies will turn out fine.

From The Essential New York Times Cookbook, Copyright © 2010 by The New York times Company and Amanda Hesser. $40, published by W.W. Norton and Company. Available at Amazon.com.