By Kelley | Cookies, Desserts
I think it’s fair to say that everyone loves a good chocolate chip cookie, right? The simplicity, the nostalgia, the ease at which you can whip up a batch, you just can’t go wrong. It seems that everyone has their “favorite” chocolate chip cookie recipe and I’m no different. My chocolate chip cookie recipe relies on browned butter and a heavy hand of brown sugar which produces a nearly perfect cookie. It’s given me no reason to look elsewhere for a new recipe.
But I keep hearing/reading/seeing blog posts on The New York Times Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie. It’s been two year since the article and recipe first debuted and everyone that’s made it has absolutely raved about it. I suppose you could say I gave into the peer pressure because last week I decided to have my hand at the now infamous cookie.
It’s fair to say that this cookie is unconventional at best. Instead of all-purpose flour, the recipe calls for a mixture of cake and bread flour. And after making the dough, you have to let it sit and chill for 24-36 hours. The recipe calls for making 3.5 oz dough balls that are supposed to result in a 5-inch cookie but I just couldn’t pull the trigger on that one. Mine were closer to golf ball size, just about 2 oz.
Because I live high about sea level (7000 feet), I adapted the original recipe for high altitude. No way was I going through all this work to have cookies that spread and burned. So what did I do to make the recipe work for high altitude? I reduced the amount of sugar and baking powder, increased the temperature 25F degrees and increased the liquid by adding an extra two teaspoons of vanilla.
The verdict? Good. Damn good. If it weren’t for waiting 24 hours for the dough to chill, I’d say these might even be my new favorite.
If you don’t live at a high elevation, check out the original recipe here, here, here and here and see what these lovely ladies are saying about it.
New York Times PERFECT Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe {Adapted for High Altitude}
Ingredients:
- 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
- 1 2/3 cups bread flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
- 2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) butter, softened
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 cup (8 ounces) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon natural vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 pounds best quality chocolate (either bars cut up or chips)
- sea salt
Directions:
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 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. Drop chocolate chips in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 up to 36 hours. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375F degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Scoop generous size scoops (golf ball size) onto baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt (optional) and bake until golden brown but still soft, about 13 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto rack to cool completely. Dough is will stay good for up to 72 hours.
34 Comments
Barbara @ Barbara BakesPermalinkIt’s been too long since I’ve had a CCC. I may stop by soon.
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KelleyPermalinkYes!!! Stop by. I’ve got a freezer full. We can catch up and stuff our faces. 🙂
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Pam NeumannnPermalinkThe flavor of these cookies is superb! The day After chilling my dough I couldn’t get a spoon or even a knife into the dough. Is that normal? Does it need to come to room temp again? I hacked off chunks and baked but they didn’t spread at all! What did I do wrong?
ReplyKelleyPermalinkLet the dough come to room temperature before you scoop them!
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MariaPermalinkWe do love these cookies, but big shocker coming from me, huh? 🙂
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Reem | Simply ReemPermalinkChocolate Chip cookies is the heaven of all cookies…
I love them, they make me smile and they make my thighs smile too…. But who cares as long as I am smiling right.
These look perfect perfect, god I need to have one so badly now…
KelleyPermalinkCookies make me smile too. 🙂
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Lisa [With Style and Grace]PermalinkI could eat an entire plate of these, right now! I’ve made a gluten-free version of this recipe and they were the best cookies I’ve ever had!
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AnnalisePermalinkI think you’ve convinced me that I need to try these cookies! Even with all the extra steps. They really do look amazing!
DeborahPermalinkI actually just made these for the first time about a month ago! I need to follow your high altitude directions – I’m bad at changing anything for high altitude.
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lisa lambertPermalinkI moved to Vail Co. from Tennessee, and have given up on baking all together till I saw this recipe, I thought since the holidays were coming up I’d give it a try….AMAZING is all I can say. They are by far THE BEST chocolate cookie I’ve ever eatin…I might just enter the Beaver Creek chocolate chip cookie bake off after this…thank you so much for you cookie recipe, even though I ran out of time on my frigration limit and I work alot so I just made one giant cookie. It came out amazingly perfect;) thanks again;)
ReplyKelleyPermalinkVail is gorgeous! I do a lot of high altitude adjustment recipes so be sure to check back!
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AprilPermalinkThank you so much for sharing this. I moved to 7,000 ft elevation a year and a half ago. I have always struggled with having pretty cookies (I was about 4,500 ft before), but after my last two attempts with the same batch (the first time I forgot about them when I wanted them to go another 30 seconds, the second time I pulled them out too early but hadn’t noticed but had to leave home. So with the oven off I stuck them back in. I came back to them flat and hard). The recipe is amazing… For dough. I was ready to be done baking cookies. My poor family!! I am ready to try your recipes. You have given me hope again!
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ShannonPermalinkthese cookies are perfect! i’m in denver at 5280 and am so happy to have found the perfect ccc recipe. i shaped them into golf ball sized cookies prior to putting them in the refrigerator for 24+ hours and it worked out perfectly (and saved me the endless hassle of trying to scoop them when they’re cold/hard).
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Kathy hankamerPermalinkI’m in beaver creek,Colorado. Is there a good cooking and baking cookbook I can buy for cooking at 8,0000 ft.?
Thank you
Kathy Hankamer
KelleyPermalinkI recommend the book, Pie in the Sky.
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MaryPermalinkI have all purpose and wheat flour on hand. Have you tried this recipe with AP flour?
ReplyKelleyPermalinkI haven’t, sorry!
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KelliePermalinkDo you know how I would go about making these gluten free? Just simply replacing all the flours with a 1 to 1 GF flour? The hubs has to be GF. 🙁 I live in CO (i have all my life) and baking can be tricky…. let alone GF baking. Thanks for any advice!
ReplyKelleyPermalinkI think you can just replace gf flour with all-purpose flour 1:1.
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LindsayPermalinkCan I say THANK YOU! I moved to the Fort this summer from So Ca and have been adjusting to this high altitude stuff with baking. This was my favorite recipe for cookies I’ve always used, and now I can make them here too!
ReplyKelleyPermalinkYou are so welcome! Enjoy!!
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KatiePermalinkI followed your recipe exactly, and unfortunately the cookies came out burnt even with using the correct pans, then trying to lower the temperature by a few degrees, and making sure the racks were in the right place. more than likely its my oven. just bummed because your cookies looks so delicious.
ReplyKelleyPermalinkWhat a bummer. This is a tried and true recipe for myself and many others that have made them. Perhaps there was a mishap when you were making them?
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KimPermalinkCan you tell me how you measure your flour? Dip and scoop method or spoon in method? Thank you!
ReplyKelleyPermalinkI measure with he spoon in method though my “scoop” is much larger than a spoon!
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ladona staceyPermalinki sure would like the recipe!!!!
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Kerry SalatinoPermalinkHow would you convert this to 10,000 ft in Breckenridge
ReplyKelleyPermalinkI would decrease the leavening a bit as well as the sugar. Maybe add a tablespoon of flour too.
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FeliciaPermalinkI have made your “perfect puffy CCC” recipe before, and my husband and I love them! But, I’m actually more of a fan of doughy cookies so I figured I’d give these a try. The only thing I did differently was use all-purpose flour as a sub for bread flour because I couldn’t find bread flour at the store. These had a wonderful flavor! They did come out just as puffy as the other recipe though, we’re they suppose to be flat? I’m not sure if this was simply because of the all-purpose flour or something else? Either way, they were yummy!
ReplyKelleyPermalinkBread flour has a little more gluten so it def changes the structure of the final result.
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LarryPermalinkHello! I’ve got a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen that works at altitude but I’m looking for one to compare it to. You mention above that these use “browned butter” but I don’t see that in the actual recipe? Do you brown your butter before mixing it with the sugar? I love that taste!
ReplyKelleyPermalinkIf you read through the recipe you’ll find the directions to brown the butter. These cookies are delicious!
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