Late last week, we ventured out of the house to take a drive 'out west'. After a slightly more than an hour's road trip, the landscape changes from dense and suburban to wide open and rural. With the harvested fields blanketed in fresh show, the farm houses and barns set against the backdrop of a blue sky gave way to a most picturesque, tranquil setting. It never ceases to amaze me just how much something like a change in landscape can energize my spirit. Whether it's a walk in the woods, a drive in the country, or a trip to the mountains, my affinity and appreciation for these landscapes has grown considerably over the years. Maybe because it has, in part, become a kind of therapy for my soul. In less than a month, I will get a strong dose of landscape therapy as I travel out west to Colorado for a long weekend. I can hardly wait to return to one of my happy places for a few days. No matter how many times I return and as odd as this may sound, Colorado always feels simultaneously both familiar and new.
Speaking of familiar, chocolate chip cookies are somewhat commonplace around here. Over the past several years, I have shared recipes for various versions of this much beloved cookie. I like them all for very different reasons, but Tara's Chocolate Chip Cookies have been my favorite go-to ones for the past six and a half years. They are ones I make for friends, for care packages, for raising money for good causes, for when I need some baking therapy, or for when I need to satisfy my fussytarian craving for a really, really good chocolate chip cookie.
Fourteen years ago I jumped on the famed chocolatier Jacques Torres's Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe when the New York Times published it. Hailed as "perfect" the consummate chocolate chip cookie was described as one "built on decades of acquired knowledge, experience, and secrets." Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, laden with chocolate, and having an addictive sweet and salty combination, qualities that would bring a chocolate chip cookie aficionado to their proverbial knees. So why on earth did I walk away from that cookie in 2008? Maybe I couldn't really appreciate that cookie or maybe it was just easier to stay with the cookie I knew. Who knows. I can't tell you specifically what prompted me to give this cookie a second chance, I can only tell you that it may be the best cookie return decision I have ever made. What I am trying to say in a rather non-linear way is that this will now be cookie I will be making for friends, for care packages, for raising money for good causes, for when I need some baking therapy, or for when I need to satisfy my fussytarian craving for a great, not just really good chocolate chip cookie.
Much has changed, including in the baking world, since I first made that Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookie. First, bread flour and cake flour are now much more readily available than they were fourteen years ago. Second, options and price points for good quality chocolate have also changed considerably. And last, and maybe most importantly, my baking knowledge has improved considerably. I am definitely not the same baker I was fourteen years ago. For those reasons as well as a few others, I will tell you I was drunk in cookie love when I took a bite of this cookie. However, in full disclosure this isn't the exact same cookie I made fourteen years ago. I made a few nuanced changes to it.
With the exception of the vanilla, I kept the quantities of all of the other ingredients the same as the originally published recipe. So what were the specific changes I made to Jacques Torres's recipe? Instead of using only light brown sugar, I used a combination of both light and dark brown sugar and instead of using two teaspoons of vanilla, I used a tablespoon. And what were those so called subtle changes? I used European style butter as it has a slightly higher fat content than most American made butters. I can't be absolutely certain, but if Jacques Torres learned to bake in France he had to using European butter. And lastly, instead of using the very expensive oval shaped chocolate feves, I chopped up a 17.6 ounce bar of Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate. And for the coarse salt, I used Kosher salt.
When I first made this cookie years ago, I measured the ingredients using measuring cups and spoons. This time I used my food scale and measured in grams (not ounces). If there was ever a cookie to convince you to use weighted versus cup measurements, this would be the cookie. With ingredient amounts asking for two cups of flour to be reduced by two tablespoons or one cup of sugar increased with two additional tablespoons, measuring in grams makes measuring easier.
If there was ever a chocolate chip cookie to test your patience, your ability to wait, this would be the one. Because once you make the batter, use an ice cream scoop to create eighteen to nineteen 3 1/2 ounce balls, the balls of dough need to chill in the refrigerator for at least 24 but up to 72 hours. Although I would recommend waiting until at least 36 hours before baking them. The amount of time the balls of dough need to spend in the refrigerator may sound like a drawback or deal breaker to some. But the textural and flavor benefits far outweigh any temporary inconvenience. And this is coming from someone who doesn't list patience high on their list of virtues! Note: I baked a batch at the 36 hour mark and another after a 66 hour pause. Both batches came out perfectly.
Baking time for the cookies ranges from 17-20 minutes or until they are golden brown on the edges but appear to still be slightly soft in the center. Rather than immediately transferring the baked cookies to a cooling rack, allow them to remain on the cookie sheet for at least 10 minutes.
To get that beautiful, perfect round bakery look to your chocolate chip cookies, use a glass bowl or oversized round cookie cutter to swirl the cookies shortly (less than a minute) after they come of the oven.
These jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies (Jacques Torres Style) have crispy, chewy edges and soft centers, are laden with chocolate, are surprisingly light, and are a seriously scrumptious, spectacular chocolate chip cookie. At slightly more three and a half inches in diameter, these impressive sized chocolate chip cookies are certainly large enough to share. Although I would encourage you to be a tad selfish and allow yourself to savor every last morsel. The recipe below makes eighteen cookies so there is more than enough to go around.
How do they compare to Tara's Chocolate Chip Cookies? It would almost impossible and even a bit unfair to compare these two chocolate chip cookies as they have two completely different flavor profiles. If you love a chocolate chip cookie having a slightly higher chocolate to cookie dough ratio, you will absolutely be smitten with these. They are as rich and delicious as they are gorgeous. Bringing these Jacques Torres style chocolate chip cookies back into my life (permanently this time) reminded me that good things sometimes really do come to those who wait.
Recipe
Chocolate Chip Cookies, Jacques Torres Style
Makes 18-19 very large (slightly larger than 3 1/2 inches), bakery style cookies
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups (283g) European or European style unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons (226g) granulated sugar
1 cup (200g) light brown sugar
1/4 cup (50g) dark brown sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups less 2 Tablespoons (214g) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (226g) bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 pounds (500g) dark, bittersweet or milk chocolate, chopped (I use the 17.6 oz Trader Joe's Pound Plus Bar)
Flaky sea salt (e.g., Maldon Sea Salt)
Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, bread flour, Kosher salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a large standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the room temperature unsalted butter for about 2 minutes.
3. Add in the granulated sugar, light brown sugar, and dark brown sugar. Beat until light and fluffy (approximately 4-5 minutes).
4. Mix in the vanilla.
5. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the flour mixture in three additions. When all of the flour has been added in and it is no longer visible, add in the chopped chocolate. Mix until just incorporated.
7. Using a large ice cream scoop or a 1/4 cup measuring cup, form 18 balls of dough (each approximately 3 1/2 ounces each). Place the balls of dough on a tray. Wrap well with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 36-72 hours.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Note: Bake only one pan of cookies at a time.
9. Place six balls of the dough (spaced at least 3 inches apart) on a baking sheet. Sprinkle each cookie with flaky sea salt.
10. Bake the cookies on the center rack of the oven for 17-20 minutes (rotating the pan midway through the baking process) or until golden on top and along edges but still a bit soft in the center. Remove the pan from the oven. Wait one minute before using a bowl or large round cookie cutter to swirl the cookie to create a perfectly round cookie. Let cookies remain on the baking sheet for up to 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
11. Savor these beautiful bakery style looking chocolate chip cookies immediately (you have waited long enough!) or store them in a tightly sealed container once they have come to room temperature.
Notes: (1) For calculating weight measurements, I use the following base formulas: 200g = 1 cup brown sugar, 200 g = 1 cup granulated sugar, 115 g = 1 cup cake flour, 136g = 1 cup bread flour, 226g = 1 cup unsalted butter, 371g = 1 pound chocolate (2) I chopped up the 17.6 ounce bar of the Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate for these cookies.
