Shall we? This is all about my quest for perfect chocolate chip cookies. Now, those who know me well are full aware that for me, chocolate chip cookies are like pizza – even the bad ones are still good. But.
It’s been bothering me for a while now that no matter what I did – different recipes, different butter temperatures, more and less sugar – my chocolate chip cookies just came out the same way every single time. Completely flat. Let me reiterate – that didn’t stop us from eating them. But it bothered me. What was the secret to cookies of substance? Would I ever make one that I felt was bake-sale worthy?
Then in July, the New York Times ran a great article by David Leite, who gives a bit of history and talks to some chefs about what they think the secret is to truly spectacular cookies. The end result is a recipe – they daringly titled it Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Jacques Torres), but I think they should have called it the No Utensil Left Behind Cookie. Someone really didn’t want all those poor infrequently-used measuring utensils to waste away in the kitchen drawer any longer. Come out, 1/4 teaspoon! We still love you! You too, 1/3 cup – we see you in there!
I can’t tease, though, because this was the recipe I’d been waiting for. One of the most interesting techniques was chilling the dough for 36 hours, to fully incorporate the wet and dry ingredients. It also calls for a sprinkling of sea salt on top, and I’m crazy about salt on sweet. So it had to be done, and the other week I’d invited a few friends to come over for an arty/crafty night at our house, and I figured it was the perfect time to test a new recipe. 
We had 9 adults and 11 kids test these cookies (I made them smaller than the recipe suggests, so instead of their 16 I had about 40 and they still seemed huge) – and they got a unanimous thumbs up. None of the kids disliked the sea salt, and some really loved it. And cue the Hallelujah chorus – they weren’t flat!!! They actually had integrity, beautiful flavor and superior texture. The next day, they were still chewy. The day after that… well they didn’t make it that far.
Yay, New York Times! You should be getting a thank you note any day now from my friend Amy, since I’ve been whining to her about my lack of chocolate chip skillage for years now. She’ll be so relieved.