David Leite's Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have a confession to make.  While most people's baking Everest is a souffle, or a loaf of ciabatta, or that perfectly seared piece of tuna, my baking Everest is the Chocolate Chip Cookie.  Yup, you heard that right.  It's not to say that I haven't made them before.  In fact, I've baked dozens hundreds of chocolate chip cookies in my life.  It's the fact that every time I bake a batch, it leaves me feeling like there's room for improvement.  That one came out too dry, that other one...not chewy enough.  That last batch?  The chocolate-to-cookie ratio was wrong.  And don't forget the batch with the truly forgettable cookie flavor.

I have tweaked the original Tollhouse recipe mercilessly, and I have liked some variations better than others.  I have melted, softened, and beaten butter.  I have altered egg yolk to egg white ratios.  I have tweaked the brown and white sugar ratios.  I have even tried different types of chocolate.  And while some of these cookies have been undeniably delicious, I have still felt like I haven't found "the one".  So any time I stumble across a promising recipe, I feel obligated to try it.  I swear.  I could be looking for a recipe for stir-fried vegetables, and oops, look, there's a chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Well, of course it has to be made right now!

And in this quest, I have tried many a recipe that claims to have "figured it all out" and has finally mastered this oh-so-elusive perfection in a cookie.  And undeniably, I have been disappointed.  Now don't get me wrong - many of these recipes are fabulous.  They are just missing...something.  So when I stumbled across the 2008 New York Times recipe, I figured I would give it a try.

I had no idea that there were others, just like me, on a quest to perfect the chocolate chip cookie.  But David Leite convinced me of that as I read this article that went on for three pages about how he interviewed great bakers and gathered there secrets together to develop the very best chocolate chip cookie.  Now, I have to say this recipe is significantly more pretentious than I think a chocolate chip cookie should be.  I mean, there are two types of flour for goodness sake.  That being said, I had to try.  After all, the path to the top of Everest is strewn with challenges and wrong turns.

So with a culinary patience that I normally only reserve for the very best of bread doughs, I made this cookie dough and let it sit.  In the fridge.  For THIRTY-SIX hours.  Sigh.  And the result?  As close to perfection as I have ever come in a cookie.  They were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, with a chewy, caramel-like middle.  They tasted amazing just out of the oven, but also tasted amazing the next day.  These cookies take a significant amount of patience, but if you have the time, they are completely worth it.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from David Leite via the New York Times

Note on Chocolate: the original recipe called for 1 1/4 pounds of bittersweet chocolate discs.  I personally prefer less chocolate than that and only added a 1/2 pound (8 ounces), although I could see increasing that to 12 ounces.  I also prefer semisweet chocolate to bittersweet chocolate, and chose bars (chopped) rather than discs of chocolate.

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour

1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2  or up to 1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)

Sea salt

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until light in color, 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. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.