Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever (Grad Student Variation)

Simply put, these are the best chocolate chip cookies ever. Perhaps the best cookies ever. You will never bite into a chewier, more flavorful chocolate chip cookie than this one. However, I must warn that it's not for the faint of heart or the counter of calories. You must approach this cookie without regard for health and without fear of indulgence. It is nothing if not decadent.

The recipe is the result of a New York Times search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. It's genius lies in two departures from the usual cookie recipe. First, it uses my favorite trick in baking, letting time do the work for you. Optimally, you prepare the dough 36 hrs before you plan to bake the cookies, letting it sit in the fridge in the intervening time. The waiting period gives the flour a chance to fully absorb the liquid, primarily the egg. Second, it tops the cookies with sea salt just before baking. The salt plays off the sweetness of the dough and the slight bitterness of the chocolate to make it a truly unforgettable cookie.

I've slightly adapted it for the grad student budget. If you make this cookie you must not dispense with a) the fridge time, b) the salt, or c) the golf ball sized scoops of dough. c) is important because it allows different regions to develop in the cookie as it spreads out in the oven heat. You get a crispy outer edge which morphs into a chewy, gooey center. Also, cook them until they are just golden brown and follow the directions of first putting the sheet on a rack for 10 minutes before transferring the cookies to the rack. In doing so you are letting the cooking process, which continues once they have left the oven, complete itself undisturbed.

NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted for the Graduate student budget

(The original recipe is here, if you want to get fancy.)

3 1/3 cups of all purpose flour (17 oz)
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

1.25 lbs of chocolate chunks (about 1.5 bags of the nestle semisweet chocolate chunks)

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. 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.

You can also freeze the dough balls. Allow them to defrost in the fridge for 24 hrs before you bake them. I tried baking them directly but since they were so big they defrosted unevenly.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.


*I use fleur de sel (salt flower), an airy and flavorful salt which dissolves on your tongue. Trader Joe's has a good one for a good price.