The New Chocolate Chip Cookie

So this is an evolution of the sainted Tollhouse recipe that we all know and love. My friend Kimberley thought of adding the white whole wheat flour since she's one of those people who are made ill by bleached flour and sugar. She discovered that the whole wheat flour makes the cookies more flavorful and gives them a darker note overall. She also discovered bittersweet chocolate chip IN BULK at a local store and since that's all I care to eat, perfect! And then I read a fabulous article in the New York Times about baking the *optimum* choc chip cookie! It explained to me why I was increasing the salt and vanilla on my own. It's baking tips, though, made the difference. You can just scrape them off the sheet and devour them, but I've included the baking method that I think is "key."

This produces a cookie with very "dark" flavors, much stronger than the original recipe. It is the sophisticate of choc chip cookies. The outside rim is crisp and the middle is gooey. It will frighten you. And guests won't leave your house until they have searched the joint for the rest of the batch you made earlier. Save your cabinets: just put them all on a plate and back away.

1 cup white whole wheat flour (note: I use King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour)
1 1/4 cup unbleached flour (I use King Arthur Unbleached Flour for all my baking - much better flavor)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cups sugar (organic sugar greatly improves all baking!)
3/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 1/4 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups (or one small bag) bittersweet chocolate chips (Ghiradelli's! or buy organic bittersweet choc chips in bulk if the WhoFo has them)

Preheat oven to 375. Combine flours, soda and salt and set aside. Cream butter and sugars VERY thoroughly, whipping it smooth. Add vanilla, blend. Add eggs one at a time, blending very well after each addition. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, blending well each time. Stir in chips.

Baking method: drop generous rounded tablespoonfuls onto tray. Bake 9-11 minutes until the cookie is pale golden and edges are dark. Middles should look a bit underdone. Fear not. Remove from oven and let sit on tray 2 minutes. Move to cooling rack and allow to cool a bit and form up. Serve.

IMPORTANT!! Make a whole batch. Bake what you need to survive the night. THEN!! Tear off two sheets of plastic wrap and make them into logs of dough. Then wrap logs in tinfoil. Refrigerate one and freeze the other. The secret it to let the dough sit at least 36 hours. When the dry ingredients have time to absorb the liquid from the rest, the cookie will become even crisper on the edges and gooier in the center. It's science and it's beautiful. And you can hack at the logs whenever you need a treat or when guests come over. Seriously - it's like the cold fusion of baking.

Note: Kimberley freezes hers in cookie patties so all she has to do is throw them on a sheet!


ClaireMereClaireMere

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