So this one night, when my brother and I were teenagers, we were driving home from a dance. (Well, my brother was driving.) It was raining and stormy and hard to see and my brother was jamming out to the radio, singing dramatically, basically every parent’s worst nightmare. We went around a sharp turn way too fast and lost control. I was certain we were going to die. My brother almost killed me. Miraculously, we didn’t die. Instead, we were heading straight for a field with a long row of trees and slid right in between two of them until we came to a stop. He looked at me. I was OK. He was OK. The car was OK. No need to tell the parents, right? Of course right. Until now. Mother and father, my bro crashed your car once.
My brother got married last weekend. It was a spectacular affair. The night before their wedding, my brother orchestrated a concert/storytelling night. There were beautiful songs, and a few stories. He directed me to tell some funny stories about him. I used this moment to tell this car-crashing story that we had sworn each other to secrecy about many years ago. Seemed like an apropos time, right?
You know what it’s also an appropriate time for? COOKIES. More cookies.
I’ve been making this recipe for years, so I thought it’s about time I shared it with you. If you haven’t had the pleasure of tasting the famous NY Times Chocolate Chip cookies, now is your chance. The recipe originally comes from Jacques Torres and was published in the NY Times a whopping 5 years ago. It stands the test of time.
I strongly recommend the use of a kitchen scale for these cookies. I’m guessing great pains were taken to determine the amount of flour needed for this ULTIMATE recipe, so I always use my kitchen scale when measuring my ingredients for this recipe.
This recipe is a bit more involved than your regular, off-the-back-of-the-chocolate-chips-bag recipe. But. It makes them that much better. These cookies don’t get flat. It’s amazing! And the combination of the saltier dough with the dark chocolate is something to be savored. Beware: the dough must be refrigerated for at least 4 hours before baking (the original recipe says 24 hours, but I’ve found an impatient 4 hours works just fine).
Stir together your dry ingredients.
Combine your butter and sugars.
And eggs and vanilla.
Combine dry ingredients with butter/sugar combo, and mix for a few seconds with the mixer until partially combined.
Finish mixing by hand.
Get your chocolate ready.
Add the chocolate to the dough. Yummm!
Now comes the hard part. Wait it out while the dough refrigerates for at least 4 hours.
Then—glorious day—make your large doughballs. About two tablespoons’ worth of dough per cookie!
Bake to puffed perfection.
Ready to eat!
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Tags: bittersweet, chocolate chip, cookies, dark chocolate, salty
When I was in elementary school, I used to collect pens. Before you laugh and think I was all nerdy, I used to collect the cool ones. Gel, feather-tipped, pastels, fluorescent…you get the idea. I was pretty cool. I don’t know what it is about pens, but even though I don’t collect them anymore (I promise), I still have a strong affinity for them. Once you’ve loved pens, you’ll always appreciate them I guess.
