Chocolate chip cookies are by far my favorite type of cookie. And anyone who knows me will not be surprised to learn that I have very particular criteria for what makes a good one. Probably my favorites are those that I make myself from the standard recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll House bag. So I was interested to read the Quest for the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie article in the Times and the accompanying recipe adapted from Jacques Torres.
I agree with this:
So few ingredients, so many possibilities for disaster. What other explanation can there be for the wan versions and unfortunate misinterpretations that have popped up everywhere — eggless and sugarless renditions; cookies studded with carob, tofu and marijuana; whole-wheat alternatives; and the terribly misguided bacon-topped variety.
Absolutely. There should never be anything other than chocolate chips added to chocolate chip cookies. No nuts!
I am less convinced by this:
The second insight Mr. Rubin offered had to do with size. His cookies are six-inch affairs because he believes that their larger size allows for three distinct textures.
I prefer a standard two to three inch cookie and in general am not a fan of the gigantism which seems to have afflicted cookies of all varieties at bakeries these days. I do agree that texture is important in chocolate chip cookies. In fact, it's probably the most important thing of all. Good chocolate helps, but I think the article places a bit too much emphasis on that. Good texture makes or breaks a cookie, and it's a lot trickier to achieve because one needs to get the technique and timing right, not just go out and buy an expensive bag of chocolate chips:
“If it was just a matter of a recipe,” said Hervé Poussot, a baker and an owner of Almondine, in Dumbo, Brooklyn, “we’d all be out of business. It’s what goes into the making of the cookie that makes the difference.”
Two innovations I am interested in trying are chilling the dough for 36 hours and sprinkling the cookies with sea salt before baking. I'm curious what effect the chilling has on the end result and a little bit of saltiness to offset the sweetness of the cookies sounds delicious.
