The all so popular Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been rather busy lately so I haven't been able to keep up with all the food blogs that I used to read. My Google Reader has been at 1000+ for weeks now and I suspect I will never catch up without just hitting mark all as read on everything.

For those of you who do not already know, this is what is going on with me. I had been looking for a new job, which is how I started getting behind on my Reader in the first place. Well I got a job and have quit my current job. I will be moving to North Carolina next week. Yup. I will become a Southerner.

By moving I mean I will be going down there and looking for a place. Hopefully that will happen relatively quickly. This will be a bit of an ordeal because I am planning on buying a place and given how I am, choosing a place will be difficult.

Well I had some time after I gave my notice where I was going home a lot earlier and just generally more relaxed and less tired and worn out. During this time I sporadically tried to catch up on my blogs. One thing that caught my eye while skipping through assorted blogs was the NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. A number of people have tried it and posted about it.

I had been trying to finish everything in my apartment, foodwise. There was still some chocolate chips left. Good ones. They were Ghirardheli 60% dark chocolate ones. I knew if they ended up in storage they would be no good by the time I got them out. So they had to be used or brought down with me. I was still trying to figure out what I was going to do with them. Then I saw this recipe and it all came together.

I went out and bought brown sugar. I guess it can come down with me in my car. I also bought eggs but eggs are always useful. I have a couple days to go that they are sure to get used up.

Naturally I didn't follow the recipe exactly. If you read this blog or have ever had a conversation with me that would seem obvious. The original recipe called for cake flour and bread flour in equal parts, by weight. Well that wasn't going to happen. AP it is. They wanted chocolate disks rather than chips but that would have defeated the purpose in making them now. I made my cookies a lot smaller. I started making balls that were like 3x the size I normally make them. That was only 1.5 oz so that's what I ran with. The recipe called for sea salt; I used kosher. If you flipped the cookie upside down so that the top hit your tongue first you could taste actual saltiness for a second. For my smaller cookies I ended up baking about 12 mins per batch.

These cookies were quite popular. The over the top chocolateyness and butteryness made them very popular. Of course they were so good you ate a couple of them and then about 20 minutes later you felt like you were going to have a heart attack but oh well. I made the mistake of eating 2 of them first thing in the morning before heading down to start my last trial. I went down to see if they were ready to go and then all of a sudden it was like 'gasp... oh god... butter... chocolate... saturated fat.....*gurgle*.... dying....gasp.... well if i'm going to die I may as well have another cookie.... gasp... *final sigh before the eyes glaze over and fall over dead*' I tried to drink water to help keep the blood moving through me but that didn't seem to help.

And without further ado.....

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe adapted from this recipe from the NY Times

Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons

17 ounce of all purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds chocolate chips

Kosher salt.

1. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Cover with plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 48 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Set aside.

4. Scoop 1 1/2-ounce mounds of dough onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, about 12 minutes. Transfer parchment or foil sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 4 dozen 3-inch cookies.