To me, chocolate chip cookies equal comfort baking and eating. They're easy to make and delicious to eat so there's a big payoff. So when I have some free time, I often get the notion to make a batch. I like to make the dough, let it sit a day or so in the fridge, and bake some up to enjoy with my fellas. I usually freeze a few to have on standby but they rarely last more than a week or two in the freezer.
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| Flour's recipe has chunks of dark chocolate as well as bits of milk chocolate that add a deeper caramel flavor to the cookies |
In this case, I thought of the chocolate chunk cookie recipe from Flour Bakery. I've made a few great recipes from the first cookbook (these milk chocolate hazelnut cookies are incredible, and then there were those surprisingly-easy homemade Oreos). When we visited the bakery in Boston, we had one of their chocolate chip cookies made with TCHO chocolate. I'm not sure if it was the TCHO chocolate that made the difference but it was really delicious. With that memory in mind, I went ahead and gave the chocolate chip/chunk cookie recipe a try.
You have the basics of the classic chocolate chip cookie here: butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, chocolate, you know the drill. The nuances in this particular recipe is the use of some bread flour (which might very well make you think of those thoroughly-talked-about Jacque Torres/New York Times chocolate chip cookies) for extra substance and chew, as well as a little milk chocolate thrown in with the dark.
As a child, all I knew was milk chocolate. In recent years, my taste preference has definitely gone over to the dark side. It'd been the same way for my husband but recently, he and the little guy have renewed their affinity for milk chocolate and I have to say that it has its place in many desserts and even works better in some cases than dark chocolate. In this particular instance, the smaller bits of milk chocolate are a great partner to the larger chunks of dark chocolate. It adds a caramel flavor and sweetness to the background of these cookies that I was a big fan of.
You know...I have to say that I've yet to be able to mimic that bakery-style chocolate chip cookie texture that I love. I'm talking about the hefty ones that are super crusty and firm yet also chewy and melding at the same time. The home versions are just not quite that extreme somehow. I keep thinking it has something to do with professional versus home ovens but I'm not sure. All I know is that at home, I get wonderful oven-fresh cookies and I can do myself the favor of using the best ingredients I can find. That's especially true when it comes to the chocolate. Use good stuff and what you like to eat because you can taste it in chocolate chip/chunk cookies. In this case, a darker chocolate (higher % cacao, say 60%-70%) works really well as it contrasts with the smaller bits of sweeter milk chocolate within.
So while these cookies I made at home aren't precisely the one we bought and ate from Flour Bakery (I didn't notice any milk chocolate at the time), they were certainly delicious. Crisp and dark at the corners, soft in the center, my favorite thing about them was the flavor - the caramel-butterscotch undertones against the chunks of melty dark chocolate. Chilling the dough at least overnight, or for a few days, in the refrigerator to develop the flavor and color is a very good thing to do.
I just want to say that one of the other perks of baking and having chocolate chip cookies in the house (besides eating and sharing them) is stowing them away in a jar, then opening up the jar every so often and inhaling that beautiful caramel-chocolate aroma! Am I crazy? Don't answer that...
Recipe:
Flour Bakery's Chocolate Chunk Cookies
From the Flour cookbook, recipe also available here
- Makes approximately 24 large cookies -
2 sticks (228 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (165 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (140 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup (150 grams) bread flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
9 ounces (255 grams; 1 1/2 cups) dark chocolate, chopped (with 62% to 70% cacao recommended)
2 1/2 ounces (70 grams; scant 1/2 cup) milk chocolate, finely chopped
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together on medium speed for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat together until thoroughly combined, 2-3 minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk flours, baking soda, and salt together. Add chocolates and stir together. On low speed, gradually add the flour-chocolate mixture and mix until evenly incorporated. (Once all the flour-chocolate has been added, I like to finish mixing by hand with a rubber spatula.)
Scrape the cookie dough to an airtight container, cover and refrigerator overnight (or at least 3-4 hours), or up to a week.
To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees and set a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.
Drop 1/4-cup dough rounds onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing each about 2 inches apart. Lightly press down on each round with the palm of your hand to flatten slightly. Bake until edges are golden brown and the center is set but still slightly soft, about 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. The cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
As a child, all I knew was milk chocolate. In recent years, my taste preference has definitely gone over to the dark side. It'd been the same way for my husband but recently, he and the little guy have renewed their affinity for milk chocolate and I have to say that it has its place in many desserts and even works better in some cases than dark chocolate. In this particular instance, the smaller bits of milk chocolate are a great partner to the larger chunks of dark chocolate. It adds a caramel flavor and sweetness to the background of these cookies that I was a big fan of.
So while these cookies I made at home aren't precisely the one we bought and ate from Flour Bakery (I didn't notice any milk chocolate at the time), they were certainly delicious. Crisp and dark at the corners, soft in the center, my favorite thing about them was the flavor - the caramel-butterscotch undertones against the chunks of melty dark chocolate. Chilling the dough at least overnight, or for a few days, in the refrigerator to develop the flavor and color is a very good thing to do.
Recipe:
Flour Bakery's Chocolate Chunk Cookies
From the Flour cookbook, recipe also available here
- Makes approximately 24 large cookies -
2 sticks (228 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (165 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (140 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup (150 grams) bread flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
9 ounces (255 grams; 1 1/2 cups) dark chocolate, chopped (with 62% to 70% cacao recommended)
2 1/2 ounces (70 grams; scant 1/2 cup) milk chocolate, finely chopped
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together on medium speed for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat together until thoroughly combined, 2-3 minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk flours, baking soda, and salt together. Add chocolates and stir together. On low speed, gradually add the flour-chocolate mixture and mix until evenly incorporated. (Once all the flour-chocolate has been added, I like to finish mixing by hand with a rubber spatula.)
Scrape the cookie dough to an airtight container, cover and refrigerator overnight (or at least 3-4 hours), or up to a week.
To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees and set a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.
Drop 1/4-cup dough rounds onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing each about 2 inches apart. Lightly press down on each round with the palm of your hand to flatten slightly. Bake until edges are golden brown and the center is set but still slightly soft, about 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. The cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
