For the past… I don’t know… 3 years, I have been on the hunt for the perfect chocolate chip cookie.  I’ve tried everything: the recipe on the back of the Toll House Chocolate Chip bag, my trusty Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, all my favorite cooking blogs.  And I finally found one to be my go-to recipe.

This recipe is different from other chocolate chip cookie recipes, in that it uses melted butter.   I think that’s the key to it’s goodness.  There are a few hints from me at the bottom:

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Cook’s Illustrated)

1¾ cups (8¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons (1¾ sticks) unsalted butter
½ cup (3½ ounces) granulated sugar
¾ cup (5¼ ounces) packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1¼ cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
¾ cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.

3. Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whish for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use a #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet.

5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10-14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

* Modifications from Me: Instead of using Chocolate Chips, I took a few squares of Semi-sweet Baker’s Chocolate and chunked it up.    Also, I’ve found that if you refrigerate the dough for a couple of days, they’re even better.  I think it gives the ingredients some time to mesh together.

If you have a favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, I’d love to try it.  I’m still open to the idea that there is a recipe floating around out there that is even better than this one.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 6:19 pm and is filed under cooking + baking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.