picturing_food: The Infamous Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Infamous Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies

A printable recipe may be found at The Crepes of Wrath

Now, I have a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I swear by. I love it, I think it is incredible, and I haven't changed my mind about that. However, as much as it pains me to say it, these chocolate chip cookies by Jacques Torres are absolutely, without a doubt, the best chocolate chip cookies that I have ever made or tasted in my entire life. I guess that's why they call him Mr. Chocolate! These are a chocolate chip cookie of another color, that's for sure. To begin, they use both cake flour and bread flour - that's right, there is no all-purpose flour to be found in these beauties. Secondly, the dough must, and I repeat, must, be refrigerated for a minimum of 24 hours. I know that this sounds strange for some chocolate chip cookies, but trust me. The combination of the flours and overnight refrigeration is extraordinary. The result is a chewy cookie with just the right amount of crisp around the edges. They are perfectly soft while still being just firm enough to stay together while you take them to work to share with co-workers, package them up to send to friends around the world, or squeeze them close so that nobody can pry them from your cold, dead hands. The other difference is that the recipe recommends that you use Jacque Torres chocolate disks, which can be found here. I, however, did not have these, so I used Guittard semi-sweet chocolate baking pieces that I chopped up, as well as Guittard 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips, which are actually very large and worked perfectly as a replacement. I really liked the different textures of chocolate, to be honest, so I recommend deviating from the original recipe just a tiny bit and using two kinds of chocolate, if you can.

Either way, I made these and everyone that tried them went nuts. I ended up making around 100 cookies, so I mailed some to a friend living in Seattle (who said that he ate them for dinner when he got them), brought some into my office, gave some to the doormen at work, and gave a bunch to Kramer to take into his office. The response was unanimous: best. cookies. ever. They disappeared from my office's kitchen in record time! People especially loved the salt and massive amounts of chocolate (surprise, surprise). These are the real deal, folks, so I really recommend setting aside an extra day to make your chocolate chip cookies and give these a try. I think that you will be as happy with them as we were.

Your ingredients. I doubled this recipe, hence the insane (or completely normal, if you know me) amount of butter.

Whisk together the cake flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Beat together the butter and sugars, until light and fluffy, at least 3 minutes.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add in the flour mixture, very gradually, until just moistened.

Fold in your chocolate.

Now, press plastic wrap down onto the top of the dough, being sure it is completely covered, and refrigerate for a minimum of 24 hours. I let mine go for about 36 hours, but you can let it go for as long as 72 hours. This is an important step!

Now, when you are finally ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and scoop the dough out onto greased and/or lined baking sheets. I used a #40 ice cream scoop, which is about the size 2 tablespoons. You can use something larger for monster cookies, which is always fun - it just depends on how many you want to bake. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and bake for 18-20 minutes for large cookies, or 10-12 minutes for smaller cookies (I think mine went for about 11 minutes).

Allow your cookies to cool for a few minutes on your baking sheets, then move them to another surface to finish cooling completely (although you may just have to try one warm - they are amazing).

Milk is, in fact, an essential component to enjoying these amazing cookies.

Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies
from The New York Times

A printable recipe may be found at The Crepes of Wrath

Total Prep and Baking Time: 1 hour 30 minutes, plus 24 hours to chill the dough
Yield: 18-20 large cookies (I used a #40 ice cream scoop, which is a bit more than 2 tablespoons, and got about 40 cookies)

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
1 2/3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or f?ves, at least 60 percent cacao content (now, I did not have these, so I used Guittard 60% cocoa bittersweet chocolate chips, as well as about 1/2 pound of semi-sweet Guittard chocolate pieces, which I chopped - I loved the look and texture of this combination)
sea salt or fleur de sel, for sprinkling

1. Sift together the cake flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a medium sized bowl and set aside.

2. In the bowl of your mixer, cream together your butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, until combined, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add in the vanilla and mix. Gradually add in the dry ingredients, until just moistened. Fold in your chocolate until evenly added throughout the dough. Press plastic wrap against the dough, making sure it is completely covered, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, or as long as 72 hours (I left mine for 36 hours).

3. When you are ready to bake, bring the dough to room temperature so that you can scoop it out, and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line and/or grease your baking sheets. Scoop your dough out onto the sheets. I used a #40 ice cream scoop, which is about the size of 2 tablespoons, but you can make them even larger, if you like. Do not press the dough down - let it stay the way it is. Bake 10-12 minutes for smaller cookies (mine took about 11 minutes), or 18-20 minutes for larger cookies.

4. Allow the cookies to cool slightly on your baking sheet, then move them to another surface to cool completely. You can enjoy these warm, room temperature, or cold. Store in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

A printable recipe may be found at The Crepes of Wrath

Source: http://picturing-food.livejournal.com/6091441.html

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