The Consummate Chocolate Chip Cookie

This is a great example of why you can't write off a recipe based on a bad cooking day! I tried this CCC recipe a couple of years back, when I first bought my Kitchen Aid mixer. This cookie is quite famous in the food and blogging world - it was even on a talk show - and was first published in the New York Times back in 2008. David Leite set out on a quest to find out just what makes the perfect chocolate chip cookie. He consulted many "experts" in the field and came up with the following equation:

Jacques Torres CCC recipe + chocolate chips with >60% cacao content + a rested cookie dough (36 hours) + large size + sea salt sprinkle + warm out of the oven = consummate chocolate chip cookie

What a genius.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from Jacques Torres via the New York Times

Ingredients
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 note)
Sea salt

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

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.

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

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.



I decided to give this recipe another try for last weekend's Superbowl party, even though my first batch wasn't quite as memorable. After all, how can hundreds of bloggers be wrong? The result? We didn't have a single cookie left. I am making another batch now as I blog, this time the dough is loaded with toasted pecans and walnuts, i heart yummy's requirement for the perfect CCC.