How to Make the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie ... Even Better? | Vaughn Vreeland | NYT Cooking

Vaughn is back! And he’s making one of the most iconic New York Times recipes in the database: Jacques Torres’s Chocolate Chip Cookies, as adapted by David Leite. With five stars and nearly 15,000 reviews, this may just be the platonic ideal of a chocolate chip cookie. But as with any popular recipe, there are endless possible twists. Is it worth it to chill the dough or use different types of flours? How do variations suggested in the comments hold up? Vaughn investigates.

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All the food that’s fit to eat (yes, it’s an official New York Times production).

[david-leite]

Vaughn, an excellent, deep-dive into the ur-chocolate chip cookie. Since I wrote the article 15 years ago, I've learned a lot. Now that we're beyond Covid, I invite you into my kitchen to explain and show you why:

1. The ideal resting time is 36 hours, not 72 hours.
2. The reason for the two flours.
3. Why the combo of cake flour and bread flour was NOT in the original recipe, but why it made it into my article.
4. A secret to shaping the dough.
5. A better way of salting the cookies.
6. A better way of using brown butter.

All best,

David

[skyerune]

What's thirstier?
A. The flour in just-mixed cookie dough
B. Vaughn fans

[micah]

Browning the butter, chilling it till solid, THEN whipping it into the other ingredients - game changer

[canella]

Recipe
2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour (8½ ounces)
1⅔ cups bread flour (8½ ounces)
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons coarse salt
1¼ cups unsalted butter (2½ sticks)
1¼ cups light brown sugar (10 ounces)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
(8 ounces)
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1¼ pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)
Sea salt

[hgrenm]

Wow looks so good! The cookies are fine too

[zedudli]

I make them with brown butter and i replace the lost water with an espresso. I also put one tablespoon of espresso powder in the dough, It goes beautifully with the chocolate

[iamafractal]

My cousin taught me the trick of shaping into a tube before chilling, then slicing off pieces as needed—especially after freezing.

[gio]

I hardly bake. But if I were to, this is exactly what I need: a recipe that explains why every step is done, so none of the intricacies are lost, and more importantly so I don't go "well I'll just do it my way, because that never works but I know best anyways."

Edit: small criticism, you should definitely convert your units to metric. It's a very small effort, but includes literally everyone not in the US.

[DavinStewart]

3:43 Instead of using a towel, just detach the mixing paddle and stir by hand until it starts to come together.
6:04 It is easier to pre-scoop but if you skipped that step then just let the dough sit out for 30 minutes or so and it'll soften up enough to scoop easily.
12:09 Just chill the browned butter until it's firm enough for creaming. I honestly just use an ice bath and it takes about 20 minutes at most to restore that firmness.

[danilincks]

Bake the cookies from frozen and add 2/3 minutes to the baking time. It makes them develop a thin crust and a gooey center, it’s amazing!

[Olive_O_Sudden]

I use the NYT recipe but with AP flour; half of the butter browned and then chilled to solidify slightly; and either all milk chocolate or milk and semi-sweet. I age the batter for about three days. I also make them half-sized at 50g each and don't salt the tops. My family LOVES them.

[nikkeyoloricooks]

I'm just here thinking of how tired Vaughn and the crew must've been after shooting and the fact that they had to replicate everything the day before. It must've been exhausting😩. Thank you! We needed this breakdown ❤️

[ReginaldTAP]

Made the dough last night, and I’m baking today! How serendipitous!
Yes, these ARE the best chocolate chip cookies. I choose to process my own sugar as much as I can, so I always bake with ground demarrara sugar, and add molasses to make up for the “brown” sugar. The baking soda needs the acid in the molasses to react.
I also rotate the pan halfway through the baking time, and that is when I sprinkle the salt on top. It’s a bit flatter at that stage, so it doesn’t roll off the dough ball.
I only use AP flour but underbake by about a minute. Ensures a soft inside- relative to the exterior- and they maintain that texture longer.

[frankennyg]

I always do the brown butter version of this recipe as my go-to, and everyone absolutely loves it!

[Nonrandomsttu]

I don't know wether i'm thirsty about the cook or the cookie.

Keep it up with this fine man, NYT cooking.

[francoisjames]

Yes, this is my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. I usually order the chocolate pastilles from Jacques Torres in NYC. I also use a mix of dark chocolate and milk chocolate. It’s always a hit at parties when I make them. 😊

[alexp]

Definitely want your browned butter to cool to room temp before pouring into the wet ingredients. I usually wait a good 45mins, but I like the idea of adding ice cubes rather than just a bit of water to replace the water that was lost.

[PardonMEfully]

I will be making cookies every month and this is next on my list.

Side note: My favorite thing is when the person on camera darts their eyes to the people behind the camera. (So serious!) for some reason it seems more authentic lol

[midlifemom]

Thank goodness i was able to print the recipe before the NYT subscription box popped up and prevented me from reading the rest of the recipe!

[mindlocked]

I would love to see each cookie laid out in a grid for comparison. 😍

X-axis: Variations e.g. 2 flour, AP flour, etc.
Y-axis: Time e.g. 0, 24, 72 hours