The Great Chocolate Cookie Experiment of 2008

I recently read an article in the NY Times about their search for the "best" chocolate chip cookie. Anytime you put the words "best," "chocolate," and "cookie" together in the same sentence, you immediately have my attention. The food writers at the Times concocted their own version of the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, which they finalized after trying several different variations. I am a confirmed cookie-a-holic, so when I saw this recipe, I was all over it.

If you know me, you know that I don't do anything half-assed when it comes to cookies. So, I decided I needed to conduct my own cookie experiment. In addition to the NY Times cookie, I needed a "control" cookie to serve as a comparison. What could be better than the tried-and-true Nestle Toll House cookie? Voila, a cookie experiment was born.

After compiling all of the ingredients, I woke up on Sunday morning and headed to my kitchen. One of the main differences between the two recpies is that the NYT cookie requires you to make the cookie dough in advance, and then refrigerate it for 24-72 hours before baking (36 hours is ideal). The Toll House cookie can be baked immediately, so I started with that. Everything went well, until I took the cookies out of the oven. They were oddly flat. They had spread way too much in the oven. They tasted good, but they had a very fragile, crumbly texture. I've made these cookies before, and I never had this problem in the past. What gives? After consulting with the internet, it seems like my butter was too soft. (The recipe says "softened butter." What else was I supposed to do??) For the second half of the batch, I lined the cookie sheets with parchment paper, which helped alleviate the spreading problem. But I still had two dozen crumbly, weird-looking (but tasty) cookies. So much for taking them into the office to share with my co-workers. Hubz suggested that we eat them crumbled over vanilla ice cream. I saved a dozen of the normal-looking cookies for my taste test.

(Yummy balls of cookie dough; Oddly-shaped Nestle Toll House cookies)

I also prepared the dough for the NYT cookie on Sunday morning, but I had to wait until Monday night to bake them. Unlike the Toll House cookies, this batch baked perfectly.

MMMMM COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, momentary lapse of reason.

After personally eating a dozen cookies from these two batches, I decided it was too dangerous to keep them all around the house, so I brought two huge containers of cookies into work. I asked my co-workers to vote on their favorite cookie. They were willing to make the sacrifice to help with my scientific research.

Based on the results of my double-blind controlled research, I have concluded that the the New York Times cookie wins the Great Chocolate Chip Cookie Experiment of 2008! Take that, Nestle Toll House! Personally, I think these are some of the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever eaten. Refrigerating the dough does something magical to its chemical composition. Using dark chocolate and sprinkling the cookies with sea salt puts them over the top.

Here's the winning recipe:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/091crex.html

Published: July 9, 2008
Adapted from Jacques Torres

Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

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 (see note)
Sea salt.

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 6 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.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.