Chocolate Chip Cookies by Jacques Torres

Description

Chocolate Chip Cookies are perfect for parties and here is one that is excellent with its salty, crunchy chewy and sweet taste all at the same time! The secret is the wait time in the refrigerator as all the flavors meld together and the different types of flour used! I'm always on the lookout for a new chocolate chip cookie to bake. This recipe had a few ingredients that were different from my other chocolate chip cookie recipes so I was interested to see what differences it made. I think it is definitely one of the best cookies I have made although a little more time consuming I'd say it was worth the extra effort. What a great party food or goodie bag treat.
Makes twenty-six 5-inch cookies or 8 1/2 dozen 1 1/4-inch cookies.

Ingredients

• 2 cups minus to 2 tablespoons Cake flour

• 1 2/3 cup Bread Flour

• 1 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

• 1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoon Coarse Salt

• 1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 butter sticks) Unsalted Butter

• 1 1/4 cups Light Brown Sugar

• 1 cups plus 2 tablespoons Granulated Sugar

• 2 Large eggs

• 2 teaspoon Natural Vanilla Extract

• 1 pounds Bittersweet Chocolate at least 60 percent cacao content. We used Toll House Semi Sweet Chunks.

• Coarse sea salt for sprinkling on top of pre baked cookies.

Items to Have on Hand

• Parchment Paper
• Ice Cream Scoop
• 2 Large Bowls
• Sifter
• Hand Mixer

Steps

• Using a mixer, cream butter and sugars together until very light, approximately 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and gently fold them into the mixture.
• Wrap dough in Saran Wrap or similar 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 ice cream scoop sized mounds of dough (approximately the size of golf balls) onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper. We used flat scoops, placing flat side on parchment.

• Sprinkle lightly with course sea salt and bake at 350 until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes.
• Transfer parchment sheet with cookies carefully to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then place cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or refrigerate to bake another day. According to the recipe and reviews...this is what makes the difference in these chocolate chip cookies!

Tips and Suggestions

• I found bread and cake flour at WalMart. Some recipes say pastry flour but we used cake flour as in the recipe printed at ABC The Chew.
• Parchment paper can be found at most grocery stores in the aisle with Saran Wrap and foil. I found a great deal on a 2-pack at Costco.
• Use a good ice cream scoop. We first bought a very inexpensive one at Walmart and it didn't release the dough at all.
• I added a couple minutes to the batch shown in the picture above to see how crispy they get. I think I liked them best at 20 minutes but that didn't stop these crunchier chocolate chip cookies from disappearing!

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