NEW YORK TIMES CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES WITH PECANS

In a blind taste test of six* popular chocolate chip cookies conducted by the Houston Chronicle, the New York Times’ adaptation of Jacques Torres’ chocolate chip cookie won, hands down.  Testers included a class of 18 kindergartners from the Acorn school in San Antonio, 15 chocolate chip cookie lovers and seven food professionals, including three bakers.  No matter the group, the adapted Torres recipe scored highest, garnering such comments as, “Flavors are balanced, cookie looks great, it has a good chip to batter ratio and I like that I can taste the salt and the butter, and the right mix of crisp/soft and good flavor.”  One chef called it the perfect chocolate chip cookie. 



I decided to try the adapted NYTimes version, in which the batter must be refrigerated at least 24 hours, and up to 72 hours.  I refrigerated my dough for 26 hours.  Although the directions don’t specify if the dough should rest at room temperature after it is taken from the fridge, I found that 1/2 hour at room temperature makes a big difference.  Cookies baked directly from the fridge are fatter and don’t spread nearly as much, but cookies that rest 1/2 hour out of the fridge are more to my liking.  If the dough gets too warm, though, the cookies will spread a little too much.  The photo below shows a cookie baked from cold dough, on the left, and a cookie baked from dough that rested at room temperature for 45 minutes, on the right.



Regardless of whether the dough is baked straight from the fridge or after it rests at room temperature, these cookies are outstanding.  But I did add 1 cup toasted pecans because  I prefer nuts in my chocolate chip cookies.  I used 1 lb. Ghiradelli 60% cacao bittersweet chips, instead of the 1-1/4 lbs. called for and found that the cookies had plenty of chocolate.  The directions say to sprinkle the cookie dough lightly with sea salt before baking, which I did, using Baleine coarse sea salt.  I must have sprinkled too lightly, because I really couldn’t taste the salt.  Next time, I’ll sprinkle more. 

I was disappointed that the cookies were not as crispy as they’re purported to be, possibly because of reduced sugar content, but it won’t keep me from rating them highly.  Even without the extra crispy edges that I love, these cookies are tops on my list.  They’re very rich and filling, just sweet enough and have a strong and rich chocolate component that dominate the cookie.  The slightly crisp edges give way to a soft interior that’s studded with chocolate and pecans. 

Some more notes:  It’s best to use your kitchen scale when weighing the flours and sugars.  I found that the volume measurements did not equal the weight measurements, so I went with weight.  Set out butter and eggs for about a half hour, depending on the temperature of your room.  If your room is below 72F, you might need more time, if it’s above 72F, you might need less time.  You don’t want your butter to get too warm.

*The other five cookies tested were Original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies, Martha Stewart’s Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, Award-Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies from allrecipes.com, Chocolate Chip Cookies by Cooks Illustrated, and Mrs. Fields Cookies.

Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans Adapted from New York Times Rating:  9.5 out of 10 Click for PRINTABLE PAGE

INGREDIENTS:  2 cups minus 2 Tbsp. (8.5 oz.) low-protein flour (I used White Lily all-purpose) 1-2/3 cups (8.5 oz.) bread flour  (I used Gold Medal Better for Bread Flour) 1-1/4 tsp. baking soda 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder 1-1/2 tsp. coarse salt (I used Morton kosher salt) 2-1/2 sticks (1-1/4 cups) unsalted butter 1-1/4 cups (10 oz.) light brown sugar 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. (8 oz.) granulated sugar (I used 3 Tbsp. Nu Naturals Stevia + 6 Tbsp.sugar) 2 large eggs 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 lb.  bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips or chocolate disks 1 cup toasted broken pecans Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and 1-1/2 tsp. coarse salt into a bowl; set aside. Using a mixer fitted with a 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.  Stir in chocolate and nuts.  Press wax paper against dough tightly and cover bowl with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate 24-36 hours, or up to 72 hours.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Scoop  3-1/2 oz. mounds of dough onto baking sheet.  (I used somewhat smaller mounds made with my small ice cream scoop.)  For very cold dough, you can press down slightly with your fingers, because the dough will stay puffed up. Sprinkle cookies lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 12-15 minutes.  Cool in pans 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.  Makes 18 (5”) cookies.  I got 32 (3-1/2”) cookies with my smaller mounds.