I was talking to my sister the other night and she was explaining all the different papers she has to write and the french exam she has to prep for by next week. Ah yes... finals. Thank goodness those days are over! But I'm still a big sister and when my sister is stressed, I get that old feeling of school stress too. I decided she needed a little care package; something that MUST contain sugary goodness and love. I picked up some cute post-it notes at Borders that have little cartoon foods on them... I couldn't say no to those! I also grabbed a fun pen with little owl graphics on it. I purchased a bag of Easter chocolates at the grocery store (no care package is complete without chocolate!)
Now on to the cookies. I wanted to make something she'd like (pretty much any cookie) and have it be a fun recipe for me to tackle. The first cookies I decided on are the "Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies". Yet another recipe from our friends at America's Test Kitchen. The second was a recipe out of my Martha Steward Cookies book, but I'll get to those another time. Let's focus on one of the happiest things in the world: Chocolate (Julia Child would probably say butter... and that comes in at a close second here).
Like all of their recipes, the team at America's Test Kitchen go through every step of making these cookies, ensuring that they get the best results possible. I had viewed the episode where they bake these chocolate chip cookies and was intrigued. The thing I found most interesting was that they melted and browned the butter before using it. Why?! Well, I found out. You take all, but 4 Tbsps of the butter and let it melt in a saucepan, constantly swirling. Then it slowly starts to brown. The recipe says to wait until it's dark brown and has a "nutty aroma". Nutty? Ok, I kept swirling and smelling.... and then it happened. No joke, it smelled nutty! Like almond roca! Like you want to eat a spoonful of pure butter! You then transfer it to a bowl and stir in the remaining butter until melted. It will get super bubbly and foam up, then mellow out as it finishes melting.
Now on to the chocolate. I've always used Nestle's chocolate for baking. It's the most affordable and I know it works. Not now. My mom had made chocolate chocolate-chip cookies a few weeks back using Ghiradelli chocolate morsels... and they were delicious! The chocolate took the cookies up a whole extra notch. The grocery store had a special, so I bought two bags of the Ghiradelli semisweet morsels. This was a fabulous decision because during my first attempt of this recipe I completely overlooked the sentence where I add the eggs. How? No idea. I'm sure we've all done it once or twice. I got to the point where I was trying to roll out the balls of dough and they wouldn't stick together! Oh well, the second time around everything went much more smoothly.
How did my cookies turn out? Perfect!! They were melt in your mouth chocolate chip cookies! The edges have a great crunch, yet the centers are super chewy. I was lucky enough to try one when the chocolate was still slightly warm.... Ooooh yummy! The cookies had a nice depth of flavor due to browning the butter. I'm sticking with this recipe for good. You can also find it on their site at America's Test Kitchen.
Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 16 cookies (they're pretty big)
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
14 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp table salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
3/4 cup chopped pecan or walnuts (optional)
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
2. Heat 10 Tbsp butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl.
3. Stir remaining 4 Tbsp butter into hot butter until completely melted.
4. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated.
5. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny.
6. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute (The mixture should start off feeling super silky- shown below, then thicken as you add more flour).
7. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
8. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 Tbsp (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches (which I did because of my teeny-tiny oven).
9. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set, but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking (I baked 5 minutes, rotated the sheet, then baked 6 minutes more). Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving. Enjoy!
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