Another chocolate chip cookie recipe? Yes. This particular cookie recipe took the internet by storm when it was shared by the New York Times several years back. You may have heard of it as the “New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie” often touted as the mother of all chocolate chip cookies. It’s the brain child of chef Jacques Torres and it’s a little more labor intensive than other everyday chocolate chip cookies. It uses cake and bread flours instead of all purpose, and requires at least 24 hours chill time in the fridge. If that seems like a lot of effort for a little cookie, then don’t make this cookie. Make this cookie instead if you need something stat. I make this Jacques Torres recipe when I’m planning ahead. When I know I need to serve cookies for an event or bake sale and I can make the dough ahead and give it the time it needs in the fridge. The result is a cookie with incredible texture, a sophisticated salt-sprinkled top that’s worth the wait.
When cookie dough has the time to chill for extended periods of time, the dry ingredients have time to absorb the wet and it alters the finished texture, in a great way. You you’ll need to whip this up and hide it in the back of your fridge overnight where you won’t be tempted to eat half of it before baking.
I don’t bother trying to get perfectly round dough balls. It’s hard to do anyway, since these are cold, but I like how the roughly shaped cookies turn out in the end.
The recipe calls for sprinkling with flaky sea salt before baking, but I always sprinkle some on after to stick to that melted chocolate.
And you can see here I’m using regular chocolate chips- I do prefer the big chocolate chunks like the recipe calls for, but chips will certainly do if that’s what you’ve got!
Warm, chewy edges, soft doughy centers, flaky salt, perfection.
Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour 8 1/2 ounces
- 1 ⅔ cups bread flour 8 1/2 ounces
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
- 1 ¼ cups unsalted butter 2 1/2 sticks
- 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar 10 ounces
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 8 ounces
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves at least 60 percent cacao content Or use chocolate chunks or chips.
- Sea saltflaky sea salt
Instructions
- Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
- 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. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
- Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) 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 sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer 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.
Questions & Reviews
Great recipe, I use Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips, because I haven’t found the ones used in this recipe. Once out of the oven I drop the pan on the counter to flatten them, it makes a difference! I also cook for 17 minutes so they aren’t as crispy. Excellent cookies!
I have cake flour and all purpose….should I adjust the cake flour?
Nope, just use your AP in place of the bread flour.
These sound so yummy! I’m a bit confused with the size though. The pics look like normal sized chocolate chip cookies. But based on the size of the dough balls they are giant cookies. Is that right? Is there a way to modify this to be normal sized cookies? What cooking time would you suggest in that case?
You can make any size cookies you like, just eyeball it and watch them in the oven!
When you say coarse salt…is that the same as kosher salt?
kosher salt totally works if that’s what you have! I sometimes use that, but I prefer a flaky sea salt if you’ve got something like that.
Do you actually use a sifter with the dry ingredients?
I make it exactly as written!
my dough is in the fridge…. BUT although I weighed everything as instructed, I found that the 8.5 ounces of bread flour measured more than 1 and 2/3 cup, and the same for the 10 ounces of light brown sugar, which also was much more that 1 and 1/4 cup ….. the dough is chilling, and I hope it will be fine… has anyone else found this issue? I would love some feedback….
thanks
Phyllis
As long as you weigh correctly, you’re good!
In the fridge!!
I found this recipe years ago after searching for “the” recipe and it is INCREDIBLE. I sometimes make some other quicker versions (including another you posted) but if we really want the perfect cookie, this is it!!
I have another choc chip cookie recipe that rests in the fridge before baking. I like to scoop it into balls before I chill it because it’s tricky to do so when the dough is cold.