Cookie Quest - the search for the best Chocolate Chip Cookie

Growing up, my mom and I always used the same chocolate chip cookie recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook she received when she got married. I made them so often I think I've memorized the recipe. For a while, our cookies came out the same, then mine started to get flatter and flatter while hers stayed rounded. And for a while, the flatness was good - they were neither too flat nor too thin - but then they started getting too thin. I did a little bit of research into why that happens and came up with a few solutions: my butter was too soft, I beat the butter for too long, or I didn't add enough flour, or some combination of those three explanations. I tried experimenting with the recipe to fix what I was doing wrong, but to mostly no avail. Adding extra flour made the cookies thicker, but they were less chewy that way, and I like them chewy. Using cooler butter didn't seem to make much of a difference, although refrigerating the dough before baking helped a bit. And beating the butter less seemed hard to do, since I generally don't beat it for as long as the recipe says anyway.

The factory that makes this chocolate is about 15 minutes from our house. We went on a tour!

I kept trying to create the perfect, not-too-thin cookie for a long time, refusing to get a new recipe since I knew this one could be so good. Eventually, after I gave him a rundown of my problems with chocolate chip cookies and why they're too thin, Matt gently suggested that I try a new recipe. And the quest began. I scoured my cookbooks for chocolate chip recipes and tried them one by one. Some were too sweet, or too buttery, some were not chewy enough - there have been trials and tribulations, people. (We sacrificed and ate all of the cookies, even if we decided that recipe wasn't a keeper.)

Sacks of cocoa! The factory makes stone-ground, Mexican-style chocolate. The stone grinding makes it a little gritter than a standard chocolate bar.

For my birthday, Matt gave me The Science of Good Cooking, put out by the good folks at Cook's Illustrated. Those people have my dream job - cooking the same recipe over and over again until it's perfect, without those pedestrian concerns of who will eat everything you cook. Also in my dream job, everything I make comes out perfectly. Anyway, getting back to reality, since the Cook's Illustrated people went through all the effort to develop a perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, I figured it was my duty to try it.

No oompa-loompas in sight!  But we did all have to wear hair nets.

It's quite a bit different from the Better Homes and Gardens recipe I grew up with. The cooks of Cook's Illustrated use melted, browned butter to give their cookies some chew and the mixing instructions seem a bit much (there's a lot of timing involved). But like BH&G, they use a mix of brown sugar and white sugar, and are actually pretty easy to mix up (despite what I just said). This is the recipe that we keep coming back to, the recipe that I think will be my chocolate chip staple replacing the childhood recipe, although I've made a few changes.

The first time I made these, I browned the butter, just like they said. The second time (and all subsequent times), I've just melted it in the microwave and continued on. Honestly, I can't tell much of a difference. Cook's Illustrated says that browning the butter adds a nutty, toasted flavor to the cookie, infusing the cookie with a range of butterscotch and toffee flavors. Additionally, melting the butter makes the cookies chewy. Okay. These cookies are pleasingly chewy, which I like, but I couldn't pick up on the flavor complexity that the browned butter supposedly provides. I think partly that's because the dark brown sugar also provides toffee-ish flavors to the cookie, or maybe I just don't have a sophisticated palate. Anyway, what I'm saying is that I think you can save yourself the time and just use melted butter.

Fresh out of the oven!

The most interesting thing about this recipe is the mixing method. You stir together the butter, sugars, salt, vanilla, and eggs. And then you let it rest for three minutes, stir for 30 seconds, and let it rest again. After the dough has rested three times, you add the flour and chocolate chips. This helps the sugar dissolve before the cookies go in the oven, which means it caramelizes more easily, and results in crisper edges and chewier centers. Who knew?

I used chocolate chunks in these cookies, although usually I use chips. The chunks resulted in a more unequal distribution of chocolate than chips normally do, and they didn't keep their shape the way that chips to, meaning that the chocolate is now more dispersed throughout the individual cookie. But still yum! The cookies are delicious - chewy and flavorful with crisp edges - although they become less chewy after two or three days.

Chunks are harder to evenly distribute than chips.

Since it is so hot out today, I ended up putting the dough in the fridge for about 20 minutes before I baked the cookies. They still came out flatter than usual, but I'm pretty sure that's heat related. It's hot here, and our kitchen gets very little airflow.

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Science of Good Cooking, (c) 2012, p. 415
1 3/4 cups (or 8 3/4 oz.) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed (or 5 1/4 oz.) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (or 3 1/2 oz.) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk*
1 1/4 cups (or 7 1/4 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
3/4 cup nuts, toasted and chopped (optional)

Adjust rack in oven to middle position, and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk together flour and baking soda. Set aside.

Melt 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly, until butter is dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma, 1-3 minutes. Transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl (or, like I said, melt the butter). Add remaining 4 Tbsp butter and stir until completely melted.

Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla to melted butter, and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk, whisk until mixture is smooth with no lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 more seconds. Repeat rest/whisk process 2 more times (so you have three rests), until mixture is smooth, thick, and shiny. Stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate and nuts (if using).

Working with 3 Tbsp of dough at a time, roll into balls and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy and edges have set but centers are still soft, 10-14 minutes (or 8-9 minutes for 1 Tbsp-sized cookies).

*Wondering what to do with your extra egg white?  I made spiced nuts. Combine egg yolk, 3 cups of nuts (your choice), 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and 1 Tbsp cinnamon. Stir well til all nuts are covered. Bake on an ungreased sheet for about 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.