New York Times Best Cookies

Updated version: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015819-chocolate-chip-cookies?smid=ck-recipe-android-share

… but for the updated version, try while wheat flour instead of cake flour (it’s what starbucks uses, apparently)

Via tendercrumb.blogspot.com

I have experimented with countless recipes searching for that perfect chocolate chip cookie. The characteristics of the perfect cookie are a very personal matter, and here are my preferences:

  • texture: chewy w. medium thickness — everyone has their preference, and this is mine!
  • chocolate to cookie ratio: 50/50 — I really enjoy having a lot of chocolate in every bite
  • chips vs. chunks: chunks — I like sizeable pieces of chocolate in my cookie.
  • type of chocolate: bittersweet — I like using Valrhona 61% extra bitter
  • nuts or other add-ins: NONE!!

With the above criteria in mind, this recipe is the closest I’ve come to experiencing CCC perfection. It’s the “not so secret” secret recipe from Jacque Torres, and I’m sure many of you have read about this or already tried this at home. I’ve been making this recipe countless times, and have found that the following tips make this cookie absolutely perfect:

  • Don’t substitute the pastry and bread flours w. AP flour. I really believe that the combination of the pastry and bread flours give the cookie a nice slightly crunchy exterior giving way to a really tender middle.
  • Hand chopped chocolate chunks, NOT premade chips – I will purchase a hunk of the best bittersweet chocolate that I can afford and hand cut them into chunks. The easiest method to chop a block of chocolate: nuke the block at 50% power for a few seconds, no more. It softens the chocolate just enough. Then take a large kitchen knife and chop away! Your effort will be rewarded with really nice ribbons of melted chocolate throughout the cookie.
  • Chill the cookie dough at least 24 hours (I let my dough sit anywhere from 2-3 days) before baking. This is not for taste reasons that were recently written about in an article from NY Times (god forbid we’re aging cookie dough…let’s leave that for wine and cheese). IMHO, refrigeration makes a difference with the look and texture. I think the dough sets in a way so when you bake the cookies, you end up with the lovely wrinkles and folds as the balls of dough spread and bake.

Jacques Torres’ Secret Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Makes twenty-six 5-inch cookies or 8 1/2 dozen 1 1/4-inch cookies

Ingredients / (Half Recipe)

  • 1 pound unsalted butter / (1/2 lb)
  • 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar / (3/4 – 1 c.)
  • 2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar / (1 1/8 c.)
  • 4 large eggs / (2)
  • 3 cups plus 2 tablespoons pastry flour / (1.5 c. + 1 tbsp)
  • 3 cups bread flour / (1.5 c.)
  • 1 tablespoon salt / (1/2 tbsp)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder / (1 tsp)
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda / (1 tsp)
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract / (1/2 tbsp)
  • 1 pounds dark chocolate, coarsely chopped / (1/2 lb)
  • 1 pounds milk chocolate, coarsely chopped / (1.2 lb)
  • new to try: 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon / (1/4 tsp)
  • new to try: 1 cup of rolled oats

Extra Ingredients
sprinkle a little bit of finely grained sea salt on top immediately after the cookies come out of the oven

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats; set aside.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars.
  3. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
  4. Reduce speed to low and add both flours, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, new: oats, new: cinnamon, and chocolate; mix until well combined.
  5. To make individual cookies, pack cookie dough into 1/4 cup measuring cups. Scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
  6. Bake until lightly browned, but still soft, about 20 minutes for larger cookies and about 15 minutes for smaller cookies.
  7. Cool slightly on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To Freeze…

Make cookie molds using 1/4 measuring cup. Place dough on cookie sheet and freeze, place in a bag then write the following…

  • Date
  • Type of dough
  • Temperature to bake
  • How many minutes (remember to add 3 minutes to cook time) – 18 minutes

Then, to reheat:

  • Let thaw in refrigerator
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Bake for 18 minutes

1/4 Recipe for Experimentation

Print

1/4 Recipe New New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie (2024)

Keyword Dessert
Servings 4 cookies

Ingredients

Original Recipe

  • 2.125 oz Cake flour
  • 2.125 oz Bread flour
  • ⅛ tsp cinnamon
  • .3125 tsp Baking Soda 1/4 tsp + 1/16 tsp (pinch)
  • .375 tsp Baking Powder 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp
  • .375 tsp Coarse Sea Salt 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp
  • 5 tbsp Unsalted Butter
  • 2.5 oz Light Brown Sugar
  • 2 oz Granulated Sugar + 1/2 tbsp
  • 1/2 Egg
  • 1/2 tsp Natural Vanilla Extract
  • .3125 lbs Chocolate 5 oz

New Recipe (with Wheat Flour)

  • 2.125 oz Cake flour
  • 1.05 oz Bread flour
  • 1.05 oz Wheat flour
  • ⅛ tsp cinnamon
  • .3125 tsp Baking soda 1/4 tsp + 1/16 tsp (pinch)
  • .375 tsp Baking powder 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp
  • .375 tsp coarse sea salt 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp
  • 5.5 tbsp unsalted butter 12g fat
  • 2.5 oz light brown sugar
  • 2 oz granulated sugar
  • .5 tbsp honey 1.5 tsp
  • .5 egg ~1 oz
  • .5 tsp vanilla extract
  • .3125 lbs chocolate 5 oz

***New Recipe (NO wheat flour)***

  • 2.125 oz Cake flour
  • 2.125 oz Bread flour
  • ⅛ tsp cinnamon
  • .3125 tsp Baking soda 1/4 tsp + 1/16 tsp (pinch)
  • .375 tsp Baking powder 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp
  • .375 tsp Coarse sea salt 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp
  • 5.5 tbsp unsalted butter 12g fat
  • 2.5 oz light brown sugar
  • 2 oz granulated sugar
  • .5 tbsp honey 1.5 tsp
  • .5 egg ~1 oz
  • .5 tsp vanilla extract
  • .3125 lbs chocolate 5 oz

Instructions

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

  2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. If using honey, add it now. 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 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 2-ounce mounds of dough (use a scale and mold into balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Do not flatten. Sprinkle lightly with salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, ~14 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 5 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.

Recipe Notes

Variations

  • 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
  • 1.0625 oz Wheat flour (half of the bread flour portion)
  • Sub 1 tbsp honey for .5 oz of granulated sugar
  • Plain

Tip

  • Disks are sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate; Valrhona fèves, oval-shaped chocolate pieces, are at Whole Foods.