Everything is mixed up, formed into a log, and is then left to sit in the fridge for 24 hours. The dough is good in the fridge for up to a week, so you can either bake the whole thing in one go, or bake a couple at a time for fresh out of the oven cookies, as we have been doing this past week.
Lebovitz calls for dark chocolate chunks, but I decided to go with half milk (Valrhona Jivara 40%) and half dark (Valrhona Caraibe 66%) and they turned out great. The dough is melt-in-your-mouth soft, and it's loaded with pecans and lots of gooey melted chocolate. My favourite type of cookie... for now.
Happy belated to Charles... this was his midnight birthday cookie on Monday
Yield ~ 48 cookies (I halved this recipe and it worked well)
Adapted from David Lebovitz' Ready for Dessert
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups (350g) all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 ounces/225g) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup (215g) packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract (I used vanilla paste here)
2 large eggs at room temperature
2 cups (~225g) nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, or macadamia) toasted and coarsely chopped (I used pecans)
14 ounces (400g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/2 to 1 inch chunks (again, I used 3.5 ounces dark, and 3.5 ounces milk). Just be sure to use chocolate vs. chocolate chips... chocolate chips are designed to keep from melting.
Method
1. Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
2. Beat together butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time until thoroughly incorporated, then stir in the flour mixture followed by the nuts and chocolate chunks.
3. On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into quarters. Shape each quarter into a log about 9 inches (23 cm) long. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, preferably for 24 hours.
4. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
5. Slice the logs into disks 3/4 inch thick and place the disks 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. If the nuts or chips crumble out, simply push them back in.
6. Bake, rotating the baking sheets midway through baking, until the cookies are very lightly browned in the centres, about 10 minutes.
Storage
Logs can be refrigerated for 1 week or frozen for up to one month. The baked cookies will keep well in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
2 comments:
Now that looks like one mean chocolate chip cookie! I love that I have 6 kitchens at work. When we do cookies in grade 8, I always start with my favourite, and once they can make them all the same way and understand the importance of doing exactly what the recipe says (we work at this all year, of course) we take 6 different "Best" chocolate chip cookie recipes and each kitchen does a different one. It is too much fun. All are yummy, of course - but I tend to go for the flat ones, like the one in your photo! Lucky Charles.
:)
Valerie
That sounds fantastic! Now that is a good way to test cookie recipes. I'm also into the flat style cookies... it's the only way to get that lovely crisp-chewy contrast. Cheers, Valerie!
BTW, I was sorry to miss you at the market on Saturday morning... don't know how it happened as we seemed to be there around the same time.
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