Life-Changing Chocolate Chip Cookies

Um, guys...  This is IT.  This THE cookie recipe to END ALL OTHERS.  And I've tried all the others.  I don't know if it's the combination of cake and bread flour (cake flour being finer; bread flour ensuring it's sturdy) or the unsalted butter with coarse salt and sprinkled sea salt (drawing out the savory), or the "aging" of the dough, or what.  But this is THE last and only chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need.  EVER.  EVER!!!

As written, this makes a huge batch.  That's not a problem at all because you basically keep the dough in the refrigerator - where it seriously only produces better cookies with each passing day - and make hot fresh cookies on demand.  And by demand I mean… like, twice daily.  And yeah, you might want to get your hands on some pasteurized eggs (try Whole Foods) so that you don't get sick from the dough you inevitably sneak.  Unless, of course, you're trying to cure some sort of ailment by consuming raw animal products.  If that's the case, a refrigerator full of this stuff is exactly what you need.  Just don't expect it to cure any of the illnesses it, um, causes you.  I digress...

Life-Changing Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups minus 2 tbsp cake flour (8.5 oz)

1 2/3 cups bread flour (8.5 oz)

1 1/4 tsp baking soda 

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp coarse salt (Kosher or Sea Salt)

2 1/2 sticks (1.25 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar (8 oz)

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 pounds (20 oz) bittersweet chocolate discs, chunks or feves, at least 60% cacao (see note)

Sea Salt

Place flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.  Whisk together.

Mix butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each.  Add vanilla.  Reduce speed to low.  Add dry ingredients until just combined (5-10 seconds).  Mix in chocolate.  Press plastic wrap against dough - so it doesn't dry out - and refrigerate at least 24 hours.  (It still tastes great if you make a few right away… but it really does get even better each day).  

Bake at 350 after sprinkling each cookie lightly with sea salt; they are intended to be eaten warm and fresh.  If you don't already have one, you MUST get an Oxo cookie scoop - makes it so fast and easy to get perfectly even cookies.  The instructions say to use parchment paper and the friend who sent me this recipe says they're most amazing with a Silpat silicone nonstick baking sheet (on Amazon).  But I've been baking these daily and too lazy to keep up with the parchment.  Might check into the baking sheet.  [Update 6/15/16: YES, you need the baking sheet!!  Read the reviews, is a total game-changer for *all* types of cookies!!].  Anyway, the recipe says to bake 18-20 minutes but I only baked for 9.  Not sure what's up with that.  It did take me more time the day when I made the cookies straight from the refrigerator, but generally I let it sit awhile so it's easier to scoop.

Either way, these are ridiculous.  

Note:  Disks are sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate, from which this recipe was originally adapted. Valrhona feves can be found in the chocolate section (not the baking section!) of Whole Foods, or on Amazon.  Like the disks, they are outrageously expensive.  I did use them in the pictured cookies (feves) but only made half a batch.  I usually just use the Ghiradelli 60% chocolate chips and it's still pretty incredible. I might try a batch with just half or 3/4 of the chocolate called for... because I love the cookie part too.  I'll let you know how it turns out if I do.

Super soft, slightly chewy, and slightly crisp.  All in one.  Somehow.

Divine, melty, dark dark chocolate.

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My favorite cookies, my favorite cause.

Now that my blog has some traffic, I want to do a post raising awareness for what I believe to be the most important cause of our time:  Slavery.  We tend to think of slavery as a demon of the past, but it's anything but.  Literally millions of people - many of whom are children - are being trafficked as we speak - as you're reading this.  It's impossible for me to enjoy the childhood I'm working so hard to give my own children when I know that thousands of children just like them - just as innocent and sweet as they are - are being horrifically victimized every single day.

We have to do something to stop this.  Anything we possibly can.  This holiday season (Christmas for our family) I have set out to raise $200 for International Justice Mission.  One of the ways I'm doing this is by having baked 7 batches of my top 5 all-time favorite cookies, dividing it all by ten, and selling ten boxes of about a half-batch's worth of cookies.  My boxes are going out today and my local list serve doesn't allow photographs in posts, so this will also help me advertise these boxes (by posting the link to this entry).  But if you're elsewhere and reading this and you feel inspired to give more this holiday season, to those who need it the most, please consider contributing to my fundraising campaign here:

https://fundraising.ijm.org/campaign/3173/Cookies-for-Justice/

My campaign page also has a video explaining what IJM is all about and how it works.  Please, please watch it!  And be sure to also "like" their Facebook page for updates on what they're accomplishing!

As for the cookies, here are my favorites with links to the recipes (except chocolate chip, which is a matter of personal preference).  Enjoy!

1. Korova (Parisian dark chocolate sea-salt cookies)
2. Peanut Butter Cup Cookies (these are actually quite easy, you just need a mini muffin tin and they pop right out!  Also, I use Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups - WAY easier to unwrap and tastier too)
3. Almond Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs with Cream Cheese Frosting
4. Chewy Spicy Christmas Cookies; and
5. "Life-Changing" Chocolate Chip Cookies

Final product!

Each box actually has two of the tree cookies :)

If you want a tasty, easy recipe for thicker softer sugar-cookies, try this one.

Simply the BEST!

These are so good and SO easy, really!  You just push the PB cups into the hot cookies, let it cool, and they lift right out!

Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs with Cream Cheese Frosting

Sugar cookies are what my husband (a lab guy) would call "low-yield."  They take about five times as much work as chocolate chip cookies and let's be honest:  They're not *quite* as tasty.  Even these - and these are soft and moist with a little-something-extra in the cream cheese frosting - aren't something you'd OD on like you would a batch of Life-Changing Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Still, a single sugar cookie (or two) is a perfect compliment to coffee and kids LOVE them.  Plus, they're just so festive; I feel compelled to make them on certain occasions.  Valentine's Day is the big one, but sometimes I'll get a holiday hankering for cute green-frosted trees with ornament sprinkles.  They also make good favors for bridal or baby showers, or even weddings.  Just always, always, always calculate plenty of time.

This Valentine's Day - for Miriam's 2nd Birthday

Hillary's Bridal Shower

Something blue!

Growing up I tried many sugar cookie recipes and most of them failed.  The dough was a disaster to roll out, or the cookies were dry and flavorless.  Then one Valentine's Day in college my then-just-boyfriend's perfect sister Melissa sent him THE MOST AMAZING SUGAR COOKIES EVER.  I remember trying some with Hillary and marveling that my husband's sister was apparently (somewhat unsurprisingly) as perfect as he was, and so were her cookies.  Melissa has a generous heart and has shared several fantastic recipes with me over the years.  I'm delighted to say that this was one of them.  Try them - they roll out easily, cut easily ... they take a bit of time but the work is easy (and fun!).

Soft Sugar Cookies

1.5 cups powdered sugar

2 sticks butter, minus 1 tbsp

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract (optional - double if you love almond flavor)

1 large egg

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cream of tartar 

Mix powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, almond, and egg.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Split in half and refrigerate both halves for at least an hour but not much more (plastic wrap works great for storing in the fridge).  Working with one half at a time, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. 

Tip:  After you get it just slightly flattened but still very thick, pick it up and re-flour the surface underneath it before continuing.  If dough is particularly sticky, sprinkle the top of the dough with flour, spread with hand, and flip floured portion over onto floured surface before you continue rolling.  

Roll to 1/4 inch thick which is actually sort of thick.  Cut with cookie cutters.  

Tip:  If the dough is sticking to the cutter, dip the cutter in flour.

You actually do NOT need to grease a tray if you use these amazing mats.  And they will bake more evenly too. 

Bake at 375 for 6 minutes.  You want the very, very edge to JUST be turning light brown if you look REALLY hard for it, but *NO MORE*.  Remove and cool completely before frosting.  

** The original recipe calls for two sticks, but I discovered by accident that the dough is even easier to roll if you omit 1 tbsp of butter, and the cookies are not too dry because the frosting moistens and softens them as it sets.

As for the frosting, credit Kelly with the brilliant idea of using cream cheese frosting on sugar cookies for added flavor.  Um, yes please!  Credit her with introducing me to the Sprinkles Cupcakes cream cheese frosting recipe as well.  Mmmm... I use about half cup less of powdered sugar because I prefer savory to sweet.  The original recipes is:

Sprinkles Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick butter

1 (8 oz) packaged cream cheese

3 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

(mix together)

To frost the cookies, it works best to use a butter knife and put a dollup in the middle, then gently push it out towards the edges.  Apply sprinkles before the icing has set, so that they stick well.  Once the icing has set (2 hours?) you should be able to layer the cookies on top of each other to transport them, and the cookies themselves should be softer as they absorb moisture from the frosting.  The very best flavor of the cookies will be a full day later once the moisture from the icing has softened the cookie.  They will then taste fantastic for 3-4 more days, and storing at room temp is just fine.

Enjoy!

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These cookies, I believe, will one day usher in world peace.

"The cookie debate is over.  O-ver."  Those words, written about these cookies by Hillary's colleague at the A.P. who wrote a food column with his NYC chef wife, ring in my ears every time I go to make the Best Cookies Ever.

If you really, truly dislike dark chocolate, these cookies may not be for you.  If not, make no mistake:  These cookies are for you.

And they're easy.  REALLY easy.  Easier than chocolate chip cookies, really.  The only potential issue is getting your hands on some Dutch processed cocoa powder.  It used to be right there in the baking section of every grocery store, but now I only ever see natural or a blend.  Using a blend works all right, but these cookies are worth the investment of an order to Amazon.com for some dutch processed good stuff.

These cookies are known as "Korova cookies" and originated in a famous Parisian patisserie.  I've tweaked the recipe a bit over the years, and the following is my version:

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted plus 3 tbsp salted butter, room temp
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp fine sea salt, rounded.  Not piled high, but softly rounded.
1 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small bits (I usually take a hammer to a bar of Ghiradelli 70% cacao, but lately I've become lazy and I use the 60% cacao chocolate chips - either can be found in the baking section of any grocery store ... the actual bar IS better, if you have a hammer).

Instructions:

(1) Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda together.  If you're feeling lazy, you can just run a whisk through it. 

(2) Beat butter until light and fluffy.  Add sugars, sea salt, and vanilla.

(3) Add dry ingredients to wet, and mix until just combined.  Add the chocolate bits and don't mix much more.

(4) Divide dough in half and form into two logs, about 1 to 1.5 inches thick, like so:

(5) Refrigerate at least an hour.  If you go much more than that, let it soften a bit.

(6) Slice dough about 1/2 an inch thick.  The cookies will fall apart a little, but just form them back into circles as best you can.  Bake on cookie sheet lined with wax paper at 325 degrees for ten minutes.

(7) Enjoy your little slices of heaven.