chocolate chip cookies

Everyone has their “go-to” chocolate chip cookie recipe.  This one is ours.  Well, it’s actually Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s.  He’s a bartender in Portland who is a true craftsman behind the bar, and apparently knows how to make really good chocolate chip cookies.  Most chocolate chip cookie recipes are the same (or very similar).  You’ll see small, if any, variation in ingredients and quantities.  What matters just as much as what you’re mixing, is how you mix.  Christina Tosi is the master of this.  She’s known for her partnership with David Chang of Momofuku.  She worked with David at Momofuku to create a dessert menu and eventually the two created the Milk Bar where Tosi creates wildly sweet desserts made with cereal milk and other creative concoctions.

Here’s some cookie rules that Tosi taught us.

• Measure to the gram.  I’ve come to love baking recipes that have specific measurements in weight versus capacity.  Morgenthaler’s is just that.
• Cream the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla longer than you think – you can’t overmix this.  Tosi spends 10 minutes on this step alone.  She uses a stand mixer for 10 minutes on high with a paddle attachment.  The reasoning is to get the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla completely combined.  It will result in a light, airy, crispy edge, fudgy center type of cookie.
• Mix the flour less than you think – undermix and finish folding it in with a spatula.  The reasoning is flour has gluten and mixing develops the gluten.  You don’t want gluten in your cookies or cakes.
• Chill the dough.  This will help prevent your cookie from totally spreading out and allow for the outer edge to crisp nicely.

Yield: 20 cookies

the best chocolate chip cookie

The best chocoloate chip cookie!

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Ingredients

• 1 stick butter (113 grams), room temperature
• 75 grams brown sugar
• 125 grams cane sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 TSP vanilla
• 175 grams flour
• 1/2 TSP salt
• 1/2 TSP baking soda
• 160 grams chocolate chips or chocolate chunks (see note)

Instructions

Using a stand mixer, cream butter and sugars together for 10 minutes (see notes). Add the egg and vanilla and beat until everything is smooth and incorporated. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda until they're all incorporated. Then start slowly folding that mixture into the wet ingredients.

Add the chocolate and mix just until combined. Wrap the bowl and let the dough rest in the fridge overnight, if possible.

Bake at 400F for ten minutes on the middle rack of your oven. Cool on a cooling rack.

Notes

Inspired by: Jeffrey Morgenthaler

Chocolate: You can use semi-sweet chocolate chips or your favorite chocolate. We've found a large bar of dark chocolate at Trader Joe's that we love. Sometimes semi-sweet chips are just too sweet.

Mixing Tips:

• Cream the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla longer than you think – you can’t overmix this.  Christina Tosi (owner of the Milk Bar) spends 10 minutes on this step alone.  She uses a stand mixer for 10 minutes on high with a paddle attachment. The reasoning is to get the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla completely combined.  It will result in a light, airy, crispy edge, and fudgy center type of cookie.

• Mix the flour less than you think –undermix and finish folding it in with a spatula.  The reasoning is flour has gluten and mixingdevelops the gluten.  You don’t want gluten in your cookies or cakes.