Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

After some consideration, I'm making this my gold star recipe when it comes to chocolate chip cookies. They're perfect. Large chocolate chip to cookie ratio, a nice golden brown color, puffy, and that fantastic crunchy outer ring surrounding the lovely smushiness of cookie-interior. It's also sprinkled with some coarse sea salt before baking, while that sounds a bit odd, trust me. When you bite into these cookies and get that hit of salt on your tongue, it's a party in your mouth.

The recipe that follows is from an NY Times article describing the search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie (an interesting read, here). Following that, I've put my own adaptations on it. With that said, I've got a whole batch of frozen balls of cookie dough in my fridge. When I need a chocolately, cookie fix I just pop a couple the oven to get that warm, fresh cookie experience (and without feeling like I need to eat a million cookies while they're fresh!).

Also as a word of warning, these cookies need at least 24 hours chilling time, so keep that in mind!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
1 2/3 cups 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 light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks, at least 60 percent cacao content
Sea salt

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 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. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Jennifer's adaptations:

1. I substitute all-purpose flour for the cake and bread flour. Use the same amounts but take out an extra 4 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. This is because the conversion for all-purpose to cake flour is 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons all-purpose = 1 cup cake.

2. Ghirardelli sells bittersweet chips that are oversized and disk shaped (and can be found at most grocery stores). I do like these big chips, but regular semi-sweet chips work well too. I use one full 12 ounce bag plus just under a half of another package.

3. Watch the bake time, I find my cookies are too done at 18 minutes. I check after 12 minutes and go from there.

4. To freeze my dough, after the chilling period, I use my cookie scoop and place each dough ball into a section of an ice cube tray. I stick this in the freezer for a few minutes to make sure the dough gets nice and cold and will avoid sticking together later. You could also portion dough out on a pan and place in the freezer (if you have enough space) or just spoon the dough directly into the ice-cube tray to portion. I then stick the frozen balls into a freezer ziplock bag and double bag it to prevent any freezer flavors getting in there.