I started hunting for the ultimate chocolate chip recipe when I got married, about 6 years ago. I started with cookbooks but once I exhausted my collection I turned to the internet for help. There have got to be thousands of recipes out there. Some are very similar and some are a bit annoying - like refrigerating the dough for 24-36 hours before baking. Come on, really? The truth is that anybody who is about to make chocolate chip cookies is on the verge of a crisis of some sort and needs butter, sugar, and chocolate like 5 minutes ago, not tomorrow night. Drives me nuts when I run across that recipe- and I'm sure you've all seen that fancy NY recipe, too. I actually tried it minus the wait time and it was no good at all. I can't imagine that some down time in the refrigerator could salvage that recipe, either. I've tried so so many recipes - all of which claimed to be the best cookie ever to be made, but most of which were just OK. I was about to give up on my search when I stumbled upon this recipe. This recipe is not to be confused with the Neiman Marcus $200 cookie recipe floating around out there. These are the real deal and are friggin' fantastic. I have yet to make a better cookie. It is a Royal Recipe for sure.
This recipe is, in the words of one of my favorite family members, AMAZEBALLS. The cookies are perfection- chewy, thick, buttery without being greasy, with a slight crunch around the edges. They are none of the things I dispise in a cookie: not dry, not cakey, not flimsy. I don't add the espresso powder anymore to the recipe because it just doesn't need it. But feel free to try it out and see what you think.When it comes to choc. chip cookies, I'm more of a purist and vanilla extract is about as crazy as I like to get for flavor. I also don't grease my cookie sheets- I use my beloved Silpats and have never had a problem with sticking or burning. One thing to note about the recipe is the low oven temperature (300 F) used during baking. I thought it was a typo but it isn't apparently. I used to work at a fancy restaurant, and one day I decided to ask the pastry chef about baking chewy cookies. Her tips? Low oven temperature and melted butter. That said, I don't melt the butter anymore because I don't really notice a difference in this particular recipe but maybe I need to experiment again- its been a while.
I'm big on using high quality chocolate chips- I can't stand Toll House or Nestle semi-sweet choc. chips. Sorry if I've just offended anyone who adores those brands but they just aren't for me. I don't know it I'm just snobby about my chocolate (entirely possible) or if I am just right. I have used Ghiradelli and Guittard and those are OK in a bind. But the BEST chips are the semi-sweet chocolate chips from Trader Joe's, surprisingly. They are rich and chocolatey without being overly sugary, like Toll House is for me. My husband, the pickiest of taste-testers can tell when I don't use the TJs brand, so I know I'm not crazy here. I could write an entire post about semi-sweet vs. milk chocolate chips. Heck, maybe I will someday. But for now, just know that it's not even funny to joke about using milk chocolate in a cookie. I'm not even sure that qualifies as chocolate so don't waste your money, the calories, or the trouble on such inferiors chips!! Nuf said.
Alright, so my advice is that you give my favorite recipe a try and let me know what you think. I can almost guarantee you will fall in love. And if you don't absolutely think its the best, please send me your recipe so that I can try it out. But I'm already telling you it won't hold a card :)
Happy baking!
I decided not to use my Kitchen Aid mixer today. Wise decision when children are trying to nap. Never, even in the despairs of chocolate withdrawal, wake a sleeping baby. Ever. Never. Its always bad bad news.
This is actually more chips than I normally add- slippery little suckers jumped out of the bag today.
And our Peach approves!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
2. Place the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in the work bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds, until the mixture is fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla for 30 seconds longer, until well combined.
3. In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to the mixer, while beating on slow speed. Beat for about 15 seconds, stir in the chocolate chips and espresso powder, and mix for 15 seconds longer.
4. Prepare a cookie sheet with about 2 tablespoons of shortening (or use a non-stick spray). Using a 1-ounce scoop, or using a 2 tablespoon measure, drop the cookie dough onto the cookie sheet in dollops about 3 inches apart. Gently press down on the dough with the back of a spoon to spread out into 2-inch circles; there should be room on the sheet for six or eight cookies at a time. Transfer to the oven in batches and bake for about 20 minutes or until the cookies are nicely browned around the edges. Bake for a little longer for crisper cookies.
Here's the link for the recipe:
http://leitesculinaria.com/3379/recipes-neiman-marcus-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
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