The chocolate chip cookie
Now, if there’s one thing that I can never, ever turn down it’s a chocolate chip cookie. Not your shop-bought, hard and crunchy, ‘Chips Ahoy’ style imposter (although I am partial to a ‘Chips Ahoy’ binge when the occasion calls for it) but fresh from the oven, soft and squidgy, chocolate-laden delights. I can’t resist them. At all.
And this passion has led to a fully-fledged quest to find the perfect cookie recipe. I wanted them to be soft in the middle, crisp on the edges, buttery caramel flavours with enough chocolate to satisfy even the most devoted chocoholic. My research had me scouring the internet for the illusive secret. What would it take to reach cookie nirvana and nail that bake?
When I hit upon David Leite’s article in the New York Times I realized I had found what I was looking for. Here was someone even more devoted to the cause that I was. Not only did I now have to schedule a trip to the U.S. just to visit all the cookie houses mentioned, I also had a framework for my experiments.
My key findings were:
Salt is a must. I’m a bit salt fan come savoury or sweet and my kitchen contains a plethora of different types. Here you must include some sea salt for that delicious savoury note.
Patience is a virtue. Now this is a difficult one. You need to leave your dough for a minimum of 24 hours in the fridge, up to 36 hours if you can. This dries out the dough and lets the caramel flavours develop. I find this is how I get a slight crisp on the edges but deliciously doughy centre. By all means, cook up a couple straight away just to see you through – they’re still going to be fresh, warm cookies…
Don’t be shy with the chocolate. Most recipes I came across were far too stingy with the chocolate measures. The dough should be there to hold together great big melting chunks of chocolate. And by chunks, I mean CHUNKS. I do not want to see these packet ‘chips’ that you need a microscope to see. Buy bars and chop yourself into generous portions. There’s nothing like biting into a cookie and getting a mouthful of melting chocolate.
Quality chocolate is a must. As ever, quality pays. I use a mix of dark, milk and white for my cookies but I will find the best quality I can. At the moment Lindt is all I can get my hands on and that that does the trick.
Know your oven. This is where you’ll need to do some testing. It took a few attempts but I have the timing down to a pat. I know that they’ll be cooking for seven minutes on the middle shelf and then a further three on the top shelf. No more, no less.
As with life – blonde is best. For the right squidgy middle, the cookies will be pale. Don’t be fooled into letting them colour beyond your timings, under is better than over.
chocolate chip cookies
Ingredients
225g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
250g soft light brown sugar
100g light muscovado sugar - this adds to the caramel flavour but if you don’t have this just use another 100g of soft light brown sugar
2 eggs
½ tsp. vanilla extract
400g plain flour
½ tsp. ground sea salt
2 ½ tsp. bicarbonate of soda
350g of roughly chopped dark (minimum 70% cocoa), milk and white chocolate
Method
Firstly set your oven to 170C/325F. Set out your baking sheets and line with baking paper. I tend to cook mine in batches of two trays at a time on the same shelf.
Cream the butter and the sugars in a freestanding mixer or with an electric whisk until pale and light and fluffy. It is important to get these two ingredients well mixed at this stage, hence the ease of the electric mixers. If you don’t have either, then use a wooden spoon and be prepared to feel those arm muscles flex.
Then add in the eggs, one at a time, scrapping down the sides of the bowl after each egg is added. Slow down the mixer/whisk and add in the vanilla extract.
Add the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well – it will seem a little dry at this point but keep on mixing and it will come together.
Add in the chunked up chocolate and mix well so it’s evenly dispersed. This is the danger zone – a taste at this stage will have you reasoning that it is quite alright to eat a whole bowl of raw cookie dough. It is not.
Cover well with cling film and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours (you can do it – just hide it behind the kale).
When you are ready to bake, remove the dough from the fridge for five to ten minutes to soften slightly, then roll into balls about golf ball size. You will need to leave plenty of room between them on the baking sheet as they will spread when they cook. I tend to do four on a tray at a time.
Bake in the oven for approximately ten minutes. They will be slightly golden around the edges and flat. Remove from the oven and leave to set for a few minutes before moving to a wire cooling rack.
I warn you not to make these unless you have plenty of bodies around to help you devour them. I’m also a big fan of a peanut butter laced version, which I’ll post at a later date. I’ll wait until bikini season is over.