New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

in Chocolate, Cookies and Bars

My definition of success… not eating the chocolate chip cookie dough that has spent the last two days singing its sweet siren song from the back of the fridge. Out of sight, but no where near out of mind.

So I waited 36 hours and baked 12 5-inch cookies. Big cookies. Chewy cookies. Chocolatey cookies. 4 with milk chocolate melting discs, 4 with Tcho Chocolatey, and 4 with Tcho Fruity. What did we think?

The fresh from the oven cookies had more pronounced browning and were good but have you ever had one that was bad? Not me. I actually didn’t think they were anything special – anything more special – just fresh, warm, and chewy chocolate chip cookies.

The day-after and the two-days-after cookies were a bit of a different story. Does anything annoy you more than plopping down $2 in a bakery for a cookie the size of your head that you don’t realize is two days old until you bite into it? Day old cookies are dryer and more bland. These cookies retained that just-baked-today flavor and texture.

Let’s talk about the chocolate.

Santa Claus (aka, The UPS Guy) brought me a couple bars of Tcho chocolate this week. We really liked the Tcho Fruity (Tcho’s newest beta flavor). I hope they don’t change too much because it has a really good bite. The cookies made with the Fruity chunks were our favorites. The Chocolatey cookies were good but the Fruity cookies were better.

Will I go out of my way next time to make the dough 1-2 days ahead… maybe. If I’ve got enough things to do to distract me from the tempting thoughts of chilling homemade cookie dough in the fridge downstairs. I’ll be honest… cookies don’t usually last that long around here anyway.

So that’s it. My un-scientific experiment and once-a-semi-pro opinion. Now go out and have a gigantic chocolate chip cookie today. Reason with your thighs: Bikini season is all but over. It’s okay.

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

A 36-hour rest is the secret to the perfect chocolate chip cookie dough.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 heaping tsp sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
  • 12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg plus 1 yolk
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped chocolate of your choice

Instructions

  1. Whisk flour, baking soda, and sea salt together in medium bowl; set aside.
  2. Mix butter and sugars in stand mixer on medium until well combined, 1-2 minutes. Add egg, yolk, and vanilla, mixing until combined between each addition. Add dry ingredients and beat on low just until combined. Add chocolate, mix until distributed.
  3. Divide dough into thirds and shape into square disks (approx 4-5 inches wide and about 1-1.5 inches thick) on plastic wrap. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for 36-48 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 325. Remove dough from plastic wrap and cut each disk into four equal squares. Place dough squares onto a silpat- or parchment-lined baking pan (I can squeeze 6 cookies onto a standard-sized baking pan).
  5. Bake until cookies begin to brown on bottom edges, about 20 minutes in my oven. Sprinkle each cookie with a few granules of sea salt as soon as they come out of the oven. Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet... or until just cool enough enough to not burn your tongue.

Notes

Yields: 12 cookies

Adapted from the New York Times

Estimated time: 37 hours

14 comments… add one
  • Great post! I actually made the TollHouse chocolate cookie recipe today and is chilling in the back of my fridge for the next couple of days. I’m intrigued by the chocolate and fruit combo… and hopefully those will hit the market soon as I’m anxious to try them out!

  • We did peanut butter cookies this week – and they didn’t last very long either. Glad these turned out so well!

  • With just 8 cookies, 2 dozen mini-cheesecakes, and 2 muffins left, now I have to try myself (besides, that’s all OO–OOLL-LLD). If I make the dough when i get home tonight, I can bake it before I leave town on Wednesday morning? Then when I roll in on my family Thursday or Friday, they’ll think the cookies are magically fresh (especially if I put them in the back window of my car to warm them back up).

  • Carissa

    I have found that if I store the cookies in a container with a piece of bread, it keeps them fresh and chewy for DAYS! The bread gets stale and the cookies stay nice and fresh (just don’t let the bread touch a cookie or it gets really chewy). Hope this helps!

  • Carissa

    By the way, I love your blog and am so excited to try these cookies 🙂

  • Claudine

    we microwaved the few cookies that survived two days (hidden in the pantry) and they tasted fresh like when they came out of the oven. I used the original NYT recipe but I improvised on the chocolate.

  • Amanda

    Congrats on not falling to temptation! There really is nothing better than chocolate chip cookie dough, is there?

  • I’d rather eat these than wear a cute bikini anyway!

  • I love how you cut them into squares! I never see chocolate chip cookies done that way – usually only shortbread. And now you’re making me want to seek out that tcho chocolate.

  • At last a cookie that I really believe is the best ………..bikinis…phew!!!!

  • Ooooh. They look pretty delicious! I don’t think I’d have the patience. Or…I’d start to procrastinate & then never make them at all. 🙂 The chocolate looks amazing too.

  • Ha! You make me laugh. “Reason with your thighs. Bikini season is all but over.” Hilarious! These cookies look totally dreamy. I tried the experiment on my blog too. A warm cookie is delicious no matter how many days the dough has been in the fridge. Fact.

  • these look nice anf yummy. Homemade cookies are always the best 🙂

  • i can’t believe you waited so long to eat them! ha! thanks for the TCHO reviews. i have been waiting for something to use mine in… maybe it will be CC cookies 🙂

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