The Chocolate Savant’s Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie
Posted By Mark
August 10, 2020
For the last ten years I have searched for the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe. By using google alerts, I am able to receive about ten recipes in my inbox every day. I have tried all the variations. With and without baking soda or baking powder. An extra egg yolk. More brown sugar. All brown sugar. Chips or chopped up chocolate. Dark chocolate or milk chocolate or a mixture of the two. Baked immediately or 24 hours in the refrigerator. Maybe a little lemon juice. Maybe not. Adding oatmeal. Adding M&M’s. After trying all the variations I keep coming back to what I think makes the ultimate chocolate chip cookie. It’s called browned butter. Browned butter give the cookie the ultimate flavor. Of course it is just my opinion. But then again who knows better than the Chocolate Savant.
My favorite recipe is not mine. I give credit to Cooks’ Illustrated. The recipe is called Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies. No need to refrigerate the dough. In my experience, I find that the cookies taste the best if eaten about 15 minutes after they are removed from the oven. If you do not know how to brown butter watch a short video on You Tube. I always brown my butter in a silver pot – actually the pot for my pressure cooker. Make sure you cook the butter long enough to get the browned butter bits on the bottom of the pan. It should have a nutty brown color. If it turns black you need to start over. Also use fresh brown sugar that is nice and soft. Hard brown sugar makes the cookies dry. Also, I always measure my ingredients on a cooking scale. Here is what you need for ingredients:
1 ¾ cups (8 ¾ ounces) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cup (5 ¼ ounces) dark brown sugar
½ cup (3 ½ ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg plus one egg yolk
1 ¼ cups (7 ½ ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks
¾ cup pecans or walnuts toasted and chopped (optional)
Step 1: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl and set aside.
Step 2: Melt 10 tablespoons of butter in sauce pan over medium high heat. Continue cooking stirring continuously with a wooden spoon or heat proof whisk until butter is a dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma. Transfer browned butter to a large heat-proof bowl and add remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and stir until completely melted.
Step 3. 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, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand for 3 minutes and then whisk again for 30 seconds. Repeat process of whisking and resting two more times until the mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. Using a rubber spatula, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts if using. Give dough a final stir to make sure that no flour pockets remain and the ingredients are evenly distributed.
Step 4. Working with 3 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll into balls and place two inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
Step 5. Bake one sheet at a time until cookies are golden brown, still puffy and edges have started to set but centers are soft. 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; let cookies cool for 15 minutes and then enjoy.
If you have a chocolate chip cookie recipe that you think is better than this one then please email it to me at mark@chocolatesavant.com and I will try it out. We may need to have a chocolate chip cookie bake-off!
