A Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie?
Legal Genius Jen Taub helps us on our quest
A “perfect” chocolate chip cookie?
I could argue that cookies, like a puppy, kitten or any any legal decision that gets Donald Trump in jail, it’s the one in front of you that’s the perfect one.
However: This cookie is supremely good. And perfect if you like a cookie that gently yields its warm, soft self to you; one where the chunks of bittersweet chocolate drip onto your fingers, and where caramel is the flavor that takes charge. And as with all very good things, there’s a catch: you also need the self-control to wait overnight for the dough to chill. Although if desperate (moi?), you could bake off one or two immediately. It just won’t be as perfect.
The recipe is from Ravneet Gill’s The Pastry Chef’s Guide: The Secret to Successful Baking Every Time (Pavilion, 2020) The version below was adapted by Charlotte Druckman for The New York Times, only because I haven’t had time to get a copy of Gill’s book.
I made these this week while recording my podcast at Legal Big Brain and lovely human, Jennifer Taub’s house. We used regular granulated sugar and Nestle super chunks, and she didn’t refrigerate them overnight (just 5 hours) and made them smaller then the recipe calls for and you know what? By all accounts they were pretty perfect, even if the recipe wasn’t followed, well, perfectly.
Pop to the end of the recipe for my notes.
NB: It only makes 14 cookies. But they are big. And luscious. You can, of course, make them half the size like Jen did and get twice as many (I can do math! Take that Mr. Mead, my 8th grade algebra teacher who wore double-knit leisure suits, and told me I was, and I quote: “…an idiot, and I would never catch up with the class.”)
Listen along to the podcast as you bake, but print the recipe out first!
Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe by Ravneet Gill, Adapted by Charlotte Druckman for The New York Times
Ingredients
3/4 cup butter (140 g) unsalted butter, softened
Scant 3/4 cup (140 g) dark brown sugar
2/3 cup (110 g) superfine sugar
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups, plus 2 Tbsp (250 g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp Maldon sea salt (or kosher salt)
6 ounces (170 g) dark (bittersweet) chocolate, chopped into large chunks
How to:
Put the butter and both sugars in a stand mixer or mixing bowl. Cream together using a paddle attachment on medium speed, a handheld electric whisk or a wooden spoon for 1 to 2 minutes until paler but not fluffy. (Do not mix for too long; if you beat the mixture until super light and fluffy, that will cause the cookie to deflate later when cooking.)
Add the egg and beat at medium speed until evenly combined.
In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (all the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt), then fold into the butter mixture using a rubber spatula until combined.
Add the chopped chocolate and fold into the dough until evenly distributed.
Immediately scoop out heaping 1/4-cup portions (about 60 grams), roll into balls and place on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 12 hours. You can also freeze them for later use. (MRB NB: I rolled them, then put them all side-by-side in a parchment-lined 9 x 9 baking pan that I covered with plastic wrap, because I need room for other food in my fridge.)
The next day, heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Make sure the dough balls are evenly spaced out among two baking sheets, as they will spread. Bake the cookies for 13 minutes (or 15 minutes from frozen), until the cookies are puffed and golden at the edges. You want the middle to be ever so slightly not-quite set.
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet; they will continue firming up as they cool. (The cookie dough will keep for up to 2 days in the fridge or 2 weeks in the freezer.)
Recipe adaptation by Charlotte Druckman for The New York Times; adapted from “The Pastry Chef’s Guide” by Ravneet Gill (Pavilion, 2020).
My Notes and Thoughts:
*This recipe calls for superfine sugar. That’s because the recipe is British and British caster sugar (which is white, granulated sugar) has smaller crystals that dissolve more quickly. Superfine sugar is the closest to caster sugar. Alternatively, you can whizz up an equal weight of good ol’ American granulated sugar in a food processor. Or, and please don’t tell anyone I said this…you can use regular old American granulated sugar and nothing bad will happen to the cookies, or you.
*I used Guittard bittersweet chocolate. Use a large serrated knife to make chopping the chocolate easier.
*I used kosher salt, instead of Maldon. My daughter ended up sprinkling a teeny bit more salt on top, which was a smart move.
*If you don’t own a scale to measure ingredients with, why not? It makes life easier and helps you avoid eye-balling a “scant 3/4 cup.” Promise.
*Also: why the annoying directions like “scant cup”? Because you can’t translate gram measures perfectly into cup measures. But you probably knew that.
Looking forward to trying these. Convicting TFG of any crime is good with me: sooner than later. Just want some jail time.
Why does caramel "take charge" in this cookie recipe? That is the only reference to caramel, so I am wondering since I am a craver of caramel. Mr. Streger was scary as my freshman Biology teacher, but as my junior Chemistry teacher, he was much nicer, perhaps because he was a basketball fan & came to our games. I was greatly relieved when I found he was not the Ogre I thought him to be 2 yrs prior. As for trump, I thought Angry_Staffer on Twitter had the best idea of where to "store" trump when & if he is sentenced to prison time. Camp David where he would be alone, confined with only his thoughts, no cell phone, no contact with anyone from outside Camp David, no sharing his b.s. with anyone ever again. Only allowing him one packet of ketchup per meal & no KFC. Paper plates only. As to which crime, I would like him sentenced for the theft of the classified documents, which he has undoubtedly shared/sold to foreign adversaries of ours. It is treason! Thanks.