My heart skips a beat when I see, or hear, the word cookie.
I’m not joking.
Put two little words, two simple little words, in front of that, and I actually have heart palpitations and begin to salivate. Chocolate chip cookie.
Add chewy and thick in there somewhere and you’ve got me. I’m yours.
Claim to have a chocolate chip cookie recipe that rivals that of almost everyone’s favourite, the New York Times chocolate chip cookie, and you’ve got me hook, line and sinker; I’m going to have to, just have to try out your recipe.
For the sake of research. For the sake of my own sanity. Because what if it IS better?!! What if I’m missing OUT!?
We couldn’t possibly have that.
A few weeks ago I was let out of class early at culinary school, so I went to the library and borrowed Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz. I read his blog often, and love the way he writes, but have never had the chance to read one of his books.
I went up to the student lounge, sat down on the beanbags with the kids from my class and read the book.
And there was this recipe, for chocolate chip cookies, with pecans, which David Lebovitz claimed were the best, which I just had to go home and try.
Many times, I have tried out recipes, claiming to be amazing, and I have been bitterly disappointed. This time, it was not so. The pecans I bought for the recipe, however, were unfortunately eaten before it came to bake time, so I mixed it up and added some espresso powder instead. And I’m very glad I did!
This made big, BIG cookies, that were crunchy on the edges, chewy through their big centers, had lots of deep chocolate and coffee flavours, and were just delicious.
- 220g unsalted butter, softened (1 cup, 8 oz)
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1½ tsp instant coffee or espresso, finely ground
- 2 eggs
- 2½ cups plain flour
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1½ - 2 cups chocolate chips
- Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla and coffee until smooth and combined.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Turn the mixer off, add the flour, baking soda and salt, and beat on a low speed until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Divide the dough into thirds. Shape each third into a log about 25cm (10 inches) long and wrap in baking paper, twisting the ends tightly to seal. Refrigerate overnight.
- When you are ready to bake, Preheat the oven to 180 C, line 3 trays with baking paper and remove the cookie dough logs from the fridge.
- Using a hot, wet knife, slice the logs into pieces 2cm (3/4 inch) thick and place on baking trays, about 8cm (3 inches) apart.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through baking, until the cookies are lightly golden. Makes 24 large cookies.
Adapted from David Lebovitz’s Ready for Dessert.