Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies | Baking with Dorie

After 30 years of publishing and 14 cookbooks later, Dorie Greenspan’s new book Baking with Dorie wins instant acclaim from believers like me. When I look for a holiday cookie to bake and to give, the recipe for the classic chocolate chip cookies is on the top of my list. And for good reasons.

Every Dorie’s recipe has to meet her signature hallmark: easy, accessible and casually sophisticated. For me, the criteria for selecting a recipe, in a nutshell, has to do with how the cookies taste. Clearly, all the chocolate cookies recipes I’ve tested and written about pass the hurdle of taste. In addition, as a more-than-casual baker, my expectation goes beyond good-tasting cookies. I’m keen to turn to recipes which give me the framework to adapt and become a better and more creative baker. A great recipe should have versatility and scope — beyond the test of time.

Dorie writes: “The sign of a true classic is its ability to accept change yet keep its character.” She demonstrates how she deploys the classic chocolate chip cookies recipe as the starting point, while playing around the edges. Add nuts and sometimes not. Stir in raisins or bits of dry apricots. Sometimes she tosses in some toasted coconut.

Here are a few guidelines. A basic chocolate cookies recipe generally consists of fat, sugar and flour in equal parts in weight. This recipe is no exception. When there is more fat in the recipe, as the case here, the cookies spread considerably. Hence you get a thinner and crispier cookie. Then Dorie adds brown sugar, making the finished cookies darker with a more complex sweetness. Furthermore, the higher ratio of sugar gives us a very crisp cookie.

The flavor variations are what make the plain distintinctive. Adding nuts imparts flavor, crunch and visual appeal. Chopped or whole pistachios, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts and cashews are excellent choices. Among them, pistachios and walnuts are my favorite. A nut variation is to pulverize the nuts and replace some (about 1/3) of the flour in the batter with nut powder. (An example of that is the Linzer dough, which has hazelnuts in it.)

Dorie has reiterated this point over and over: the merit of using chunks of real chocolate instead of chips. Whether you’re making chewy or crispy chocolate cookies, they look more interesting and taste more interesting when you manually chop up the bar chocolate. You get slivers, flying shards and chocolate dusts of various sizes and shapes, giving each bite a different chocolate-to-dough balance. Isn’t it the artisanal quality we’re striving to achieve?

This recipe makes four trays or four dozens of cookies. They can be kept in a airtight container for about 4 days or up to 2 months in the freezer. During the holidays, there is never enough cookie dough for giving. The notion of giving and the aroma in the kitchen are just a few extra incentives in kicking the holiday baking into high gear.

Print Recipe

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies | Baking with Dorie

Serves: 45 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups (272 grams) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 sticks (8 ounces; 226 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup (200 grams) sugar
• 2/3 cup (133 grams) packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 12 ounces (340 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped (chip-size pieces), or 2 cups (340 grams) chocolate chips
• 1 cup (120 grams) finely chopped walnuts or pecans, preferably toasted (optional)

Instructions

1

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.

2

Whisk together the flour and baking soda. Working in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, both sugars and the salt together until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. One by one, add the eggs, beating for a minute after each egg goes in.

3

Turn off the mixer, add the dry ingredients all at once and pulse the mixer to begin blending. When the risk of a flour shower has passed, work on low speed, mixing only until the dry ingredients are almost incorporated. Continuing with the mixer or working by hand with a sturdy spatula, stir in the chocolate and nuts. (The dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.)

4

Use a medium cookie scoop (one with a capacity of 1½ tablespoons) to shape the cookies and arrange on a lined baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between the mounds; or portion the dough out by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls. (You can freeze the scooped balls for up to 2 months.)

5

Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are brown at the edges and golden in the center; they may still be a little soft in the middle, and that’s just fine. Let the cookies rest for a minute on the baking sheet, then carefully lift them onto racks to cool until they are just warm or have come to room temperature. Repeat with the remaining dough, always using a cool baking sheet.

6

Storing: The cookies can be kept in an airtight container for about 4 days at room temperature or for up to 2 months in the freezer.

Notes

https://food52.com/recipes/86812-dorie-greenspan-classic-chocolate-chip-cookies