Chocolate Chip Cookies -- Bake-Off III

[sanantone]

Reading this thread made me incredibly hungry for chocolate chip cookies. After much debate I tried the Unbelievably Good Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I was starting late so I didn't have time for two different recipes. I have been making different versions of the Tollhouse since I was 10 years old and though my "all brown sugar, extra vanilla" version was great. This new recipe beat mine hands down.

In the oven:

On the rack:

The recipe is quite a bit different than the way I had been making mine, cold butter creamed with the sugar from the beginning, room temp eggs and what I think is a higher sugar to flour ratio. All of which made a great freaking cookie! Next is The Tejon. I like oatmeal in cookies...

[Intellidepth]

I made chocolate chip cookies ala Blue Smoke for a gathering here a the cottage a while back, and they were a huge hit.

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My attempt at this recipe created very flat pancake thickness softish, kind of chewy cookies, is this what they are supposed to be?

I refrigerated the dough for the second bake from the same dough, cooked them for a bit longer hoping to get a crisp/chewy combo, and it baked out the same way.

They puff up beautifully in the oven, spread to nearly triple width, and as soon as I took them out they all fell flat, flat, flat. I think if I cooked them for longer they'd turn into crisp cookies that better hold their shape but would be more like a tuile in texture in the end. I still have enough dough refrigerating right now for another 10 cookies... any ideas? I used bleached AP. I did cream the butter/sugar well, so that could be another thing to modify - keep it more like a flaky pastry concept I guess.

I think what I'm looking for is a cookie that holds its shape more and is +1cm thick with chunks sticking out of it, with less fat. A cross between chewy/cakey in the middle? I found the quality 63% dark chocolate I used had too soft a texture during and after baking to keep chunks, although that could have been half due to the dough spreading so much? Maybe I need to use cheaper (but not really cheap) chocolate?

Hmmm. Off to read recipes closely this time, I guess looking for a lower fat to flour content, and lower egg content for less fragility... and low/medium baking soda content for a more dense result. Here goes...

[Intellidepth]

OK, I have been officially in Bake-Off mode this afternoon (in between jewellery creation). The left-overs of my last experiment went to two willing households.

I've made a batch of Tejon's 28-Year-Old Chocolate Chip Cookies.

HOORAY a cookie that 1) holds its shape to the right thickness 2) has a lower fat content than many 3) is easy to change the add-ins without substantially changing the texture 4) my husband has raided tonight 5) has massive amounts of chocolate in it!!! (I'm a closet chocaholic.)

The detail for foodies:

a) I used Nestle Chocolate Chips Dark and Lucky Californian Walnuts in half the batch, and Nestle White Chocolate Chips in the other half. The walnuts toasted fabulously, and the chips held their shape (as they are designed to do) - I'd be happy to try couverture chocolate again in this recipe for that melty finish. The white chocolate gave an ultra-sweet flavour, which is great if you have a sugar craving!

b) I accidentally made the cookies twice the size and consequently ended up experimenting until I flattened them and cooked them for 16 minutes to come up with the same ideal as Tejon. I agree that walnut sized mounds are a good size for this recipe... especially if you use white chocolate.

This is the first time I've tried an oatmeal chocolate chunk/chip cookie (rare combination in Australia), and while I like the overall flavour the texture was a bit grainy as I had to process the oats myself.

All in all, a very satisfactory end to my day (and my husband's).

[tejon]

OK, I have been officially in Bake-Off mode this afternoon (in between jewellery creation). The left-overs of my last experiment went to two willing households.

I've made a batch of Tejon's 28-Year-Old Chocolate Chip Cookies.

HOORAY a cookie that 1) holds its shape to the right thickness 2) has a lower fat content than many 3) is easy to change the add-ins without substantially changing the texture 4) my husband has raided tonight 5) has massive amounts of chocolate in it!!! (I'm a closet chocaholic.)

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I'm so glad you liked them! You'll have to give them a try with regular quick oats and see if there's a texture change - I'm guessing they'll be a slight bit lighter but still retain the chewiness the oats provide.

[merstar]

Just tried these the other day - very good! (I used about 1 generous cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and omitted the nuts).

MAXIMUM CHOCOLATE COOKIES

http://www.starchefs.com/chocolate_lovers/...recipe_04.shtml

Edited December 16, 2007 by merstar (log)

[merstar]

Just tried these the other day - very good! (I used about 1 generous cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and omitted the nuts).

MAXIMUM CHOCOLATE COOKIES

http://www.starchefs.com/chocolate_lovers/...recipe_04.shtml

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Update: I did these again with the full amount of chocolate chips (1 2/3 cups), and they were even better.

[Alicia8870]

I love to make chocolate chip cookies, and after going through the threads, I did'nt see one close to the one I use, so I thought I would throw it in the mix!

I use a small scoop to portion the dough, and bake them on a silpat.

They are amazin!

My favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie!

Makes about 48

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup toffee bits

1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; stir into creamed mixture. Fold in milk chocolate and semisweet chips, toffee bits and pecans. Drop by tablespoons onto cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in preheated oven. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on wire racks.

[merstar]

These are fantastic. The dough was crumbly, but that could be because I added an extra 1/4 cup peanut butter (I used lightly salted natural peanut butter). I dropped the first batch by rounded tsp and the second batch by very rounded Tbsp - I preferred the rounded Tbsp - they were thicker and moister.

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES

http://www.recipezaar.com/48532

[Pallee]

So when I first read this thread I wondered what the big deal could be - I mean I've never met a chocolate chip cookie I didn't like (unless it was store bought).

Then I got Elizabeth Falkner's "Demolition Desserts" and made her Chocolate Chip Cookies Version XS and decided there was a cookie to make a big fuss about! This one blew me away. The XS stands for extreme sugar, meaning muscovado and demerara, which add a great crunch. Also calls for oats you toast in butter. I subbed white whole wheat flour for half the AP. She gives the cooking times based on the texture you're looking for in the cookie.

This takes my vote for the best chocolate chip cookie ever!

[paulraphael]

I've been up nights in the laboratory working on this one, and I think I nailed it. This is now the best recipe that I've ever tasted.

It's on recipe gullet, here: http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r2108.html

These are the first cookies I've had that are thick, chewy, not greasy, and that have such good flavor in the cookie itself that i've cut the amount of chocolate chips almost in half, so the choocolate doesn't get in the way.

They're made with browned butter, light muscovado sugar, and a small percentage of whole wheat oat flour.

[merstar]

Hey Paul, your cookies sound great. I'm thinking of trying them, but wonder if the texture would be compromised if I made them a little smaller. It looks like they're about 1/4 cup each (correct me if I'm wrong), and I'm thinking of making them about half that size. What do you think?

[paulraphael]

Hey Paul, your cookies sound great. I'm thinking of trying them, but wonder if the texture would be compromised if I made them a little smaller. It looks like they're about 1/4 cup each (correct me if I'm wrong), and I'm thinking of making them about half that size. What do you think?

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I haven't tried making them small, so I can only guess. The baking time would no doubt be less. Would you be interested in making on sheet of big ones and then experimenting with size with the rest? I'd be curious to hear about your results.

[merstar]

Hey Paul, your cookies sound great. I'm thinking of trying them, but wonder if the texture would be compromised if I made them a little smaller. It looks like they're about 1/4 cup each (correct me if I'm wrong), and I'm thinking of making them about half that size. What do you think?

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I haven't tried making them small, so I can only guess. The baking time would no doubt be less. Would you be interested in making on sheet of big ones and then experimenting with size with the rest? I'd be curious to hear about your results.

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Actually, that's exactly what I was planning to do. I'll let you know how they turn out. Thanks.

[merstar]

I've been up nights in the laboratory working on this one, and I think I nailed it. This is now the best recipe that I've ever tasted.

It's on recipe gullet, here: http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r2108.html

These are the first cookies I've had that are thick, chewy, not greasy, and that have such good flavor in the cookie itself that i've cut the amount of chocolate chips almost in half, so the choocolate doesn't get in the way.

They're made with browned butter, light muscovado sugar, and a small percentage of whole wheat oat flour.

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Well, what can I say? These are dangerous cookies. I made them last night, and couldn't stop eating them - I ate so many I almost got sick. Totally addictive.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any muscovado sugar, so I had to use regular light brown sugar. I don't know if that affected the taste or not, but I don't care - the cookies tasted great. They had a caramelly/butterscotchy taste, soft and chewy in the centers, crispy on the edges. The 1 cup chocolate chips was the perfect amount for these cookies (I used Ghirardelli's semi-sweet chips).

I tried the first batch in the 1/4 cup size, as written, and the rest in heaping Tbsp. I preferred the heaping Tbsp - better size for eating, plus they fit into my glass canister - The 1/4 cup size didn't fit through the opening, and I had to bend them in half. I baked the 1/4 cup ones about 12-13 minutes, and the heaping Tbsp about 10-11 minutes.

Thanks for the great recipe, Paul!

[paulraphael]

Great! glad to hear they worked so well for you.

If anyone else wants to try (minus the getting sick part) I'd love to hear any feedback or suggestions.

[gfron1]

I've got a batch in the cooler right now waiting to bake. I subbed dark muscovado for light since its all I had, but all else was as per instructions. I'm baking to sell, so we'll see what the customers think.

[paulraphael]

I've got a batch in the cooler right now waiting to bake.  I subbed dark muscovado for light since its all I had, but all else was as per instructions.  I'm baking to sell, so we'll see what the customers think.

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Cool. I made my first couple of trials with dark muscovado. I felt that the molasses flavor dominated the butter flavor more than I wanted, but they were still tasty. Can't wait to here what the customers have to say.

Edited March 21, 2008 by paulraphael (log)

[CaliPoutine]

I'm also baking to sell. I baked a batch of CC cookies from the book " The best of better baking.com". They spread way too much to sell( maybe I made them too big). I was aiming for a big cookie( ala starbucks)

Which recipe do you think would give me a big yet sturdy cookie that would keep well for 2 days?

[gfron1]

Here's my report. They went straight from my oven to the serving area - no time for that day of aging! Let's just say that of all of the desserts, it was the first and only to sell out. I came back to my store later in the day and ran into a customer that I knew his wife took one home to him. He said that his first bite tasted like any other cookie, but then after his second bite he started to get the complexity of the cookie. That was my impression as well. We're not conditioned to really taste CCCs, rather we scarf, and so complexity is missed in many instances. Paul - thanks for a good recipe.

[gfron1]

I forgot to mention that I did the high altitude adjustments since I live at 6000 feet. I did 75% of Paul's recommendations and it worked very well.

[paulraphael]

Cool, thanks for the report. I'm glad they worked well!

For some reason they really improve a lot with a day of aging ... both the flavor and texture. I see how this can be hard to test with hungry customers/kids/friends around.

I forgot to mention that I did the high altitude adjustments since I live at 6000 feet.  I did 75% of Paul's recommendations and it worked very well.

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That's helpful. My altitude suggestions were made up based on things I've read (I used to live at

6000 feet too, but didn't bake anything back then). Maybe I'll change the suggested adjustment to reflect what you did.

[paulraphael]

Which recipe do you think would give me a big yet sturdy cookie that would keep well for 2 days?

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I made a huge batch of the brown butter muscovado cookies four days in advance of needing them. Kept in a sealed plastic container they stayed completely fresh. I like them better at four days than I did right out of the oven.

[merstar]

I'm also baking to sell.  I baked a batch of CC cookies from the book " The best of better baking.com".  They spread way too much to sell( maybe I made them too big).  I was aiming for a big cookie( ala starbucks)

Which recipe do you think would give me a big yet sturdy cookie that would keep well for 2 days?

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Have you tried Cook's Illustrated's Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies? I haven't tried them myself (I've tried their Thick and Chewy Double/Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies, which were great), but there have been tons of great reviews on these:

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipe.asp...=1270&bdc=15240

And of course, Paul's Brown Butter Muscovado Chocolate Chip Cookies are excellent!!!

Edited March 23, 2008 by merstar (log)

[CanadianBakin']

I'm also baking to sell.  I baked a batch of CC cookies from the book " The best of better baking.com".  They spread way too much to sell( maybe I made them too big).  I was aiming for a big cookie( ala starbucks)

Which recipe do you think would give me a big yet sturdy cookie that would keep well for 2 days?

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I was going to suggest the CI cookies too but I also had some excellent ones in the freezer that I decided to try for you. It took every bit of will power I've got to leave it on the counter for 2 days . I'm happy to say it kept well but it might be a bit expensive to make for a store as it has a lot of pecans in it. It's Oatmeal, Raisin, Pecan Cookies by Claire Clark in her new book Indulge http://www.amazon.com/Indulge-Perfect-Dess...06460685&sr=1-1. Except of course I don't use raisins, dried cherries or cinnamon but replace them with 9 oz dark chocolate chunks. When you make the batter it almost looks like apple crisp topping but they bake up lovely. Crisp on the outside chewy on the inside. She divides her batter into 20 cookies which makes them about 2-1/2 oz each, probably about 4" and a good thickness. I'm sure they would still bake up well if you made them larger.

BTW I had the same problem with the CC Cookies from betterbaking.com so I don't think it's just you.

Edited March 25, 2008 by CanadianBakin' (log)

[Kim Shook]

Unfortunately, I seem not to have taken a picture, but I made some fantastic cookies that were recommended by Brigid Mary. They are called Best, Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies and they were wonderful. I have kind of lost interest in chocolate chip cookies in the past few years - they seemed dull compared to others that I was making, but these changed my mind! The recipe is here.