Jacques Torres' Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies

Welcome to Baking Extravaganza Day 6! I made these for a cookie exchange at my office. I needed a recipe that would make a ton of cookies and a wide variety of people would enjoy. I found this recipe while browsing Martha Stewart’s archives and thought why not? The dark chocolate chips takes this recipe a step above your average Tollhouse recipe and hey, who doesn’t love a huge fluffy cookie with a nice crisp edge?

I thought about halving the recipe Martha provided, but then misread the instructions (turns out 13 5-inch cookies is not the same thing as 13 cookies) and thought I wouldn't have enough dough for 3 dozen cookies. Boy was I wrong - using the original recipe proportions ended with me literally up to my elbows in cookie dough. In fact, the largest bowl I own couldn’t contain all the dough – flour was going everywhere when I tried to stir. I ended up having to split the dough between my two largest pots to incorporate all the dry ingredients. If you’re cooking for a crowd, feel free to use the original proportions – but make sure you find the largest bowl possible first!

Jacques Torres's Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies

From Martha Stewart 

Ignore the chilling instructions at your peril! When you give these babies time to chill, you really elevate the flavors. I prefer to make the batter and scoop them into individual cookies immediately, placing them onto wax paper. I then freeze them and take out a cookie or two whenever the craving hits. This method is also really useful when you’ve promised to bring in a large number of cookies and don’t have a lot of time during the week to make them – simply make over the weekend, freeze, and cook when needed!


This is the half recipe - so double if cooking for a crowd but this will still get you two dozen good sized cookies as is.

Ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter

1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 cup and 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1 cup and 1 tablespoon cake flour

1 and 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 and 1/2 cup bread flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 pound or 1 bag chocolate chips, about 60 percent cocoa (or dark chocolate chips) is best

Equipment

Cookie sheets, hand mixer, large mixing bowl

Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well in between. Add flours, baking powder, baking soda, and mix until combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix well. Chill for at least 12 hours and up to 72 hours in an airtight container.

Scoop into balls (about 2 and a half tablespoons for large cookies and about a tablespoon for small) and place onto cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake until lightly browned, but still soft – about 20 minutes for large cookies and 15 for smaller cookies. Cool on sheet about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 8 5-inch cookies (giant) or about 2 dozen (large)