Jacques Torres' Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1 pound unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
4 large eggs
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons pastry flour
3 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 pounds bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars.
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Reduce speed to low and add both flours, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, and chocolate; mix until well combined. [Your choice: continue with baking the cookies or pause and refrigerate the dough for 24 hours]
- Using a 4-ounce scoop for larger cookies or a 1-ounce scoop for smaller cookies, scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
- Bake until lightly browned, but still soft, about 20 minutes for larger cookies and about 15 minutes for smaller cookies.
- Cool slightly on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes twenty-six 5-inch cookies or 8 1/2 dozen 1 1/4-inch cookies
Tine's Notes: The original recipe recommends refrigerating the dough for 24 hours (or even 2-3 days) before baking, but really who waits that long for cookies?! I baked 3/4 of the dough and saved 1/4 in the fridge. You can see the difference in my cookies, on the left was the immediate cookie. On the right, is my aged dough cookie. I will say that although the right-away cookies are REALLY good, the aged-dough cookies were slightly better. The outside had a great crisp to bite into and the inside is still perfectly soft cookie innards. Also, they spread out less so the cookies remain a little more upright than sprawling. Ok fine, I might wait for these cookies again. The color is also pretty as well. Also like the original recipe, I used disks of chocolate instead of chips. More chocolate in each bite! As for the flours, I used all-purpose all the way. I just can't justify having multiple types of flour on a limited budget.
