CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
“This recipe has been adapted from the well-known recipe from The New York Times. I had tried many recipes obsessively over the years and narrowed them down to three favourites, this is one I still make often when I want an ooey, gooey cookie that is chewy in the centre with crisp caramelized edges.” Makes: 30-36 cookies
Vanilla Maldon salt:
1 vanilla bean 1/2 cup (125 mL) Maldon salt
1. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds in the centre with the back of a small paring knife. Place the husk and the seeds in a re-sealable container with the Maldon salt and mix gently with a fork to combine.
2. Infuse for at least 36 hours at room temperature. You can leave the husk in the salt indefinitely to continue infusing, storing at room temperature. The salt will just pick up more of the vanilla scent and flavours the longer it is left to mingle.
3. When the cookies are warm and just out of the oven, sprinkle a pinch onto the tops of each one.
Note: This recipe makes more than you might need, although I like to keep some on hand as a vanilla salt is perfect for finishing dishes like seared scallops or on almost any kind of sweet such as brownies, cakes, cookies and even caramel ice cream.
Cookies:
2 1/2 sticks (10 oz/284 g) butter, room temperature 1 cup plus 2 tbsp (8 oz/227g) granulated sugar 1 1/4 cup (10 oz/285g) light brown sugar 2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla extract (I prefer Nielsen-Massey) 2 large eggs 3 3/4 cups (16.5 oz/468g) all-purpose flour 1 1/2 tsp (7.5 mL) fine sea salt 1 1/2 tsp (7.5mL) baking powder 1 1/4 tsp (6mL) baking soda 10 oz (285g) bittersweet chocolate féves (I prefer Valrhona Alpaco; see note) 10 oz (285g) milk chocolate féves (I prefer Valrhona Jivara)
1. Cream butter and sugars in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, until lighter in colour and texture. Add vanilla extract and eggs to butter mixture and mix on medium speed until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
2. Slowly add flour, fine sea salt, baking powder and baking soda, mixing on low speed until just combined. There should be large streaks of flour still remaining. Add chocolate féves and mix briefly until just incorporated.
3. Cover dough with plastic wrap or place into an airtight container and refrigerate for 48 hours. Aging the dough melds the flavours together and creates nutty, caramel notes that won’t develop otherwise.
4. When ready to bake the cookies, preheat oven to 350 F (175 C). Remove dough from the refrigerator about 30 mins before scooping to soften dough slightly.
5. Scoop balls of dough about 2 in. (5 cm) in diameter and place about 2 in. (5 cm) apart on parchment-lined sheet trays. You can use a heaping No. 30 (1 fl oz) scoop if you have one. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cookies are browned and caramelized along the edges and centres are just set. Top each cookie with a sprinkling of the vanilla Maldon salt, about 1/4 tsp (1 mL).
6. Cool on trays for 2 minutes and transfer to a rack to cool completely, or eat warm. Keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
A note on measurements:
I have given measurements here in both volume and weight, however, I find the most consistent results using the weights. A kitchen scale is now reasonably affordable and you will find that it makes baking and clean up much faster and easier.
A note on the chocolate:
While it is harder to find féves (flatter discs of chocolate) than the common chocolate chips, there is a distinct difference in the resulting cookie — the chocolate layers in the cookie and it does not quite translate when using regular chocolate chips.