Hello Sweet Readers! Happy Friday :)There is always much talk, speculation, and baking of the "ultimate", "perfect", and delicious chocolate chip cookie. It's my hubby's favorite and everything else besides "my" chocolate chip cookies are always met with, "well, it's OK, but it's not your chocolate chip". I have tried numerous recipes, all claiming to be the best. Every single one thus far has not met his expectations except mine (and his mother's, which is very similar). So when I saw that Cooks Illustrated had a recipe for the "perfect" chocolate chip cookie, I had to try it. The author of the article (just love that magazine and reading the how tos, btw) tried over 700 batches and countless varieties of just about everything that goes into a chocolate chip cookie. Was it better than mine? Read on...
The first thing that was WAY different about every other CCC recipe I have tried is that you melt and brown the butter (and less than two sticks, just barely).
Then you mix it with the sugars. She uses more brown sugar than white sugar. The recipe calls for mixing it for 30 seconds and letting it rest...three times. This melts the sugar sufficiently and give it an amazing toffee/caramel flavor. To me, it really stood out in the end. The taste was much more complex and vibrant than a "regular" CCC.
Then the dry ingredients are mixed in. Note that you cannot use a handy mixer, either handheld or Kitchenaid. Work those muscles :)
OOH, then in go the chocolate chips. I used some chips, but cut up some Valhrona discs. I also added a tad more chocolate than she said..can't help it.
There ya go...the dough. Oh so tantalizing, isn't it?
Hugely different was the amount of cookies this recipe made. Only 16. Compared to the normal 5 dozen or so, not what you want to make for a large potluck. The cookies need to be bigger to get the right consistency of crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside...
Here they are baked. Oh, yeah~
The finished product. The verdict? I actually liked them better (the size helped:). I thought their taste was very complex and you could really tell the difference it made browning the butter. The method was much more time consuming, but the toffee flavors and the perfect chewiness with crispiness was the bomb! My husband, however, still likes my CCC recipe better. So if I have an intense craving for a large, killer CCC cookie, I'm going to these, but for all else, back to the old recipe. I'm here to please, after all! :)Have a sweet day!
Post note: Just had to also tell you that I froze some of the dough that I had already formed into the correct size..I defrosted a couple the other night and ...oh my goodness...they are still soooo good. Still my fav! Just sayin'! :)
