Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
May 22, 2009 posted by David Leite
On the TV program Connecticut Style, David demonstrates to hosts Desiree Fontaine and Sonia Baghdady how to make the New York Times cookie that “was heard ’round the Internet.”
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from a recipe by Jacques Torres, et al.
Makes about 18 cookies
These are the cookies that appeared in the July 9, 2008 edition of the New York Times. The very same cookies that set off an explosion of baking across the Internet to see if, indeed, they are the perfect specimen. The consensus is yes.
convert 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 (Buy it)
Sea salt
Method
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 six 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.
Note: Disks are sold on this site at Leite’s Eats.
Recipe © 2008 The New York Times. All rights reserved.
© 2009 Leite’s Culinaria, Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of use.
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[Raye Tiedemann] I will go to this recipe again and again because these are the best I have ever baked. I had some fleur de sel I used to sprinkle on the top. This sure did bring out the sweetness of this ultimate cookie! Nice and gooey right out of the oven. Of course, this is the only way to have them. Yum….Thanks, David.
David, (insert screaming) OMG!!! Just took these cookies out of the oven, I couldn’t wait the 36 hours. I made the dough yesterday and had to try them today, so 24 hours and……they are THE BEST chocolate chip cookies I ever made. I thank you, and my family thanks you.
Best regards,
Blima
Blima, thanks. They are delicious, aren’t they? But shame on you for not waiting 36 hours! A BIG difference.
I will let you know tomorrow, only made half of the dough recipe. :) Thanks again.
David, you were so right. My son came over the next day, he took a cookie and said, “They are better today.” I laughed. Bakers, listen to David when he tells you to wait. Thanks again.
That’s what months of research does!
I don’t know what I am doing wrong :(
I followed the recipe exactly and substituted no ingredients. On the night I made the dough, I baked off just two cookies, and they turned out light, fluffy, and delicious–the best cookie I’ve ever had.
Then I chilled the rest for 48 hours, scooped out very big generous golf ball rounds, plopped them onto parchment paper, stuck them in the 350 degree oven, yet when they came out, the whole cookie was basically crispy, and they did not expand as wide as yours (no ’strata’ were achieved!)
Do the balls on the baking sheet need to come to room temp before baking?! Did I just overbake them by a minute? I’m saddened that the pre-chilled-cookies were better than the post-chilled ones!
A few things could be going on. First, if your fridge is really cold, yes, the cookies won’t bake properly. They won’t spread as wide, but, that said, the centers would be under-baked. So I theorize that if your cookies were both small in diameter and completely crispy, then the dough was too cold and you over-baked them. I suggest forming the balls of dough, let them sit for 10 or even 15 minutes on the cookie sheet and bake them for just the minimum time stated in the recipe.
Also, if you don’t have an oven thermometer, I’d invest in one. Your oven could be running hot.
Thanks very, very much. I still have tons of batter, I’ll do what you’ve recommended.
I have not made these yet but was wondering if I can add nuts? If so, How much?
Pat, you certainly can, but they’re truly wonderful plain. If you want to add nuts, I think a cup or so would suffice.
I am in tears over how delicious this recipe looks and sounds. We have to eat gluten-free and wondered if anyone had come up with GF flour alternatives.
Clare, yep. Gluten-Free Girl developed a version that GF-ers love.
Mwah! Thanks. Off to mix and chill.—Clare
David, I am just another happy baker reporting back on these excellent cookies. Kudos to you on this recipe. These were devoured straight off the cooling rack, by a large group of friends staying together in a vacation rental, pretty much as fast as they came out of the oven. Since people (especially my husband) generally break my “Let it cool” rule anyway, these were a giant hit.
I used part See’s Candies semi-sweet chocolate chips (which are very large and flat, very close to the discs/feves, and my favorite for cookies) and part 72% couverture discs. I made a double batch and still have dough in the freezer. I am hoping I can use it in a week. Have you ever frozen this dough?
Rachel, so happy to hear they turned out well. It is a crowd-pleasing cookie. I have frozen the dough, and, for me, it loses something. The texture is off—more like those frozen slice-and-bake cookies. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
David, I can confirm that me and 2 other tasters found the frozen dough baked up into cookies just as delicious as the original version. If I were to taste them side-by-side, perhaps I would have noticed a difference between the two. I must confess that this dough was in and out of the freezer, fridge, and cooler (!) over the course of a week! I even tried cooking them on aluminum foil over a BBQ grill, and while they were homely, they were still yummy. Or perhaps it’s just that one doesn’t notice a small loss in texture of the dough that binds together the large flat discs of good chocolate, highlighted with the sprinkle of sea salt, eaten warm.
David, they are just the ultimate chocolate chip cookie, exactly as you christened them.
Rachel, I so happy to hear you found no difference. Anyone else out there have the same experience? Perhaps my problem was I had them in the freezer for several weeks. That could have made a difference.
We’ve vacuum-sealed the dough (in pre-portioned scoops) and frozen it—the cookies are stil delicious (how can a warm cookie be bad?). But I find they tend to lose something over the “fresh” dough. They aren’t as crispy/chewy/gooey as the refrigerated dough. But, they are very handy for when you are in need of a cookie fix and don’t want to mix up a whole batch.
Having said that, the cookie dough is perfect because you can make a couple after 24 hours (yum) and then the next day (even better) while waiting for the 72 hours to go by. I just have to make sure someone doesn’t eat all the dough before we get to baking them into cookies.
Leanne, I find the same thing happens when I freeze the dough. I think the sugar has more time to melt, resulting in a less interesting cookie. The “fresh rest” of 24 to 36 hours in the fridge is what give them their ultimate taste and texture.
Chocolate chip cookies are my weakness. Once I get some cake flour I will be making these!
I just made the dough and its sitting in my fridge. I can’t wait to try these cookies. I know they’re probably best warm but will they taste okay a few days later? I plan on giving some as a gift.
BR, they are best warm, and they lose something at room temperature. Why not tuck a note inside the gift tin suggesting the recipient heat the cookies in a low oven for 10 minutes or so until warmed through?
David,
Thank you for a beautiful website with fantastic recipes I’m going to have to spend years just to get through! And, I am most impressed that you take the time to reply to most every comment!
Um, I know this is a long shot…but do you have any advice on how I should adjust this recipe for altitude? We live at 6000 feet, in Colorado Springs. So far, I’ve used Susan Purdy’s “recipe adjustment” table (from her book, “Pie in the Sky”) to tweak my cake recipes. By and large, it’s worked just fine but there are times when I’ve had to tweak recipes over several goes before they turn out right.
I’ve yet to try my hand at cookies in this part of the world…and I really don’t want 1 1/4 lb of precious chocolate to go to waste (and have to wait 72 hours to find out!) if the altitude is going to affect the recipe…which I think it might?
I’m desperately hoping you’ve got the magic answer?!
Hi Rachel, thanks for the kind words. All of my baking experience has been at sea level. But I did find this publication from the University of Colorado. Perhaps it will help. Also, in the brochure, you’ll find an order form for several publications about high-altitude baking, specific to your area. And a suggestion: Make the cookies first using a less expensive chocolate.
Dear David,
Thanks for the speedy reply! The information you refer to is similar to Susan Purdy’s advice – thanks. I’ll let you know in due course how I fare. If all goes well, hopefully I’ll be able to write you and let you know how I successfully adjusted it to work at 6000 feet!
Hi David,
I have been eyeing this recipe for some time now and I am determined to make them this weekend. And, lucky for me (and my husband if he’s lucky), I also found some wonderful couverture discs at the store yesterday, so I’m set…almost.
I only have all-purpose and pastry flours at home. Is there any way to use a combination of these two instead? I could not find cake flour OR bread flour at the store. So, I’m dying to make these, but I really do not want to mess them up! Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. And thank you for such a fantastic site! I have been making the korova cookies for years now and they are still, to this day, our favorite treat EVER!
Happy new year!
Debra, for this go around, use only the all-purpose. The protein content will be a little different that with the bread and cake flours, but using a mix of all-purpose and pastry will lower the protein content too much. Best of luck and tell me what you think!
David, you’re the best! Thank you so very much for your speedy reply. So just to make sure: I substitute equal amounts, right (17 oz. of all-purpose flour)? Ugh, I hate that I can’t make it exactly as you have written it, as I know what hard work went into it. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
You’ve got it. But to be reeeeeeeeeeeally clear, order some bread and cake flour from King Arthur. You’ll see the difference!
David,
Thanks for the amazing recipe. I finally got around to making it and the cookies were absolutely amazing! My patience was definitely rewarded. I only wish I would have crossed them off my to do list sooner.
Kristen, my pleasure. So glad you liked them.
Has anyone ever added peanut butter?
Hi, Sherry. Adding peanut butter is a great idea, but it really changes the recipe and its texture—which is great as is.
But as a starting point, add 3/4 cup creamy (not natural or organic) peanut butter to the butter and sugars before creaming. Make sure to reduce the butter by 1/4 cup (or 4 tablespoons), and see how that suits your taste. The two ingredients to play with are the peanut butter and the butter. Best of luck.