Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think this recipe is unnecessarily fussy. The difference between the two kinds of flours is their protein content -- bread flour has 12.7% (per King Arthur Flour's website), cake flour has 9.4%, and all-purpose flour has 11.7%. The amounts of flour called for in the recipe are equal by weight, so the protein content of the combined bread and cake flours is 11.05%, which is practically the same as all-purpose flour. So I just used plain, old AP flour and the cookies turned out fine.

Metric Measurements

241 grams / cake flour
241 grams / bread flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
284 grams / unsalted butter
284 grams / light brown sugar
227 grams / granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
680 grams / bittersweet chocolate disks (at least 60%)
Sea salt

I learned a trick from Cooks Illustrsted that I have used for several recipes, including CC cookies. Use cold butter. Place about 2/3 of butter in a skillet, melt and then lightly brown the butter. Pour browned butter over cold butter in mixing bowl and mix until cold butter is melted. Mix in sugars (1/2 Lt brown and 1/2 Dk brown), salt, eggs and vanilla. Mix thoroughly, then allow to sit for 3 minutes. Mix 30 seconds, then repeat twice. Then continue with recipe. Sugars develop beautifully!

I LOVE this recipe! It is true that people absolutely go crazy for these cookies! I have adapted the recipe over the years, including pre-scooping the cookies onto a wax paper-lined cookie sheet and refrigerating them prior to baking. I find it much easier to do it this way than trying to scoop cold dough. I bake what I want and put the rest in a zip-lock bag to bake later. These cookies are the best the day you bake them. I agree with Jenny W, you will be making them again, and again!

I'm not a big fan of CC cookies, but now I know it's because I have not had the best. OMG! This is THE only recipe you'll ever need. It is chewy and crisp on the outside. I used all purpose flour as the others suggested. I immediately baked the dough since I wanted to taste the difference. It was great! However, the longer the dough rested in the fridge the better it tasted. I baked it at 6 hours, 24 & 48 hours. Let me tell ya, it tasted the best after it has rested for 48.

I've been making this for over 2 months now and will pass on this recipe for generations. Simply the best! This is an update to my previous post. All purpose flour is what I use for this recipe and it's perfect! However, tonight I used the cake and bread flour as the recipe suggested. What a mistake! The cookie was on the heavier side and it's more cakey. My kids wondered what happened and demanded the original cookie. Will definitely be sticking to all purpose flour from now on.

I want to try those but I'm scared with the amount of sugar listed in the recipe. 450g sugar for 18 cookies? It means 25g sugar per cookie, almost 2 tablespoons?! Is there a way to put less sugar in the dough without changing the consistency of the final result? Thanks!

I've found it works really well rolling the dough into logs, wrapping with greaseproof paper, then cling flim, and freezing. Then I just slice off (through the wrapping) cookie segments about 1 1/2 inches thick, and bake from frozen.

How much flour would I use if I use all purpose flour only and no cake flour? Thanks!

so if you use all purpose flour, what is the total amount used? also do you let the butter reach room temp and soften before mixing?

I have made this cookie twice. I have found two things,
First I can jam a lot of chocolate, white chocolate and nuts into this recipe, but it try not to exceed the recommended amount of recommended chocolate. However these are big cookies and can hold a lot of fillings. I use 3 types of chocolate, white chocolate and walnuts, but I think pecans would be better.

Do not over bake, I found that on a good baking sheet with a good silicon sheet, that 14 to 15 min is perfect for a nice soft cookie.

Tip: heeding the advice of other commenters, I rolled the cookie dough into 4 logs, wrapped in plastic wrap, and then stuck it in the fridge. The next day, I just cut disks of the cookie dough (fairly easily), sprinkled sea salt, and stuck it in the oven. So easy and you don't have to struggle with hard cookie dough! I highly recommend, even if you don't have bread or cake flour!

Great recipe! I followed it with the exception of some recommendations from readers: used a mixture of bittersweet, semisweet, and white chocolate; before chilling for 36 hours, I formed smaller than golfball-size balls and placed them in a large covered bowl (cannot imagine how hard it would be to work with the chilled, unformed dough); baked them on parchment lined baking sheets for 10 minutes before sprinkling a tiny pinch of flaked sea salt, then baked 5 minutes more.

I have made this so many times and every time people go CRAZY for them! I use Trader Joes chocolate that comes in a huge bar and then just chop it up with a butcher knife. This works perfectly and is very cost effective! Also, some of my people hate the salt on top, so I try to be fairly judicious when sprinkling it! Once you have made these you are going to be busy making them again and again and again and again and again!!!

Make 50 gram cookies (just under 2 ounces; a bit smaller than a golf ball), cook for 15 minutes. Flat disks work better than chips; the chocolate melts into layers. Use 10 ounces bittersweet and 10 ounces semisweet chocolate disks for a more complex flavor. The cookies should be puffy and starting to brown when you take them out of the oven. Using parchment paper makes it easy to transfer cookies from baking sheet to rack to cool further; let them cool completely before removing from parchment.