Hey Tracybb!
Actually, I am in the midst of a chocolate-chip-cookie craze right now. I have been baking many recipes lately, and many of them turn out like the picture [if there is a picture]. Mostly, the ones that don’t look like the ones in the picture are the ones that aren’t specific enough- e.g. how many minutes to mix the ingredients; how big of a scoop to use etc.
The ones that impressed me most are Alexis Stewart’s Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies [Just don’t preheat the oven as the recipes states right at the beginningl there is a short chilling period]; America’s Test Kitchen’s Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie [I got the recipe with their app. It’s a little time consuming, but really delicious] and Nigella Lawson’s recipe which is my current go-to.

Edit: Oh, in Alexis Stewart’s recipe, I added about 1/2 cup more flour, so that it would look like the one in Martha’s site [there is a video on the site].
Good luck!

Hi McBrownie. I love Nigella Lawson’s recipe! just tried it last week, and i really feel like im getting there. Going to try Alexis Stewart’s Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies next.

Thank you all for sharing great advices

Most of the cookies referenced are extremely similar to the Toll House recipe. I think the brands of butter, flour, and even brown sugar can make a big difference in how they turn out. That said, this has been pretty consistent for me http://amysfavorites.com/food/67-Desserts/151-chocolate-chip-cookies

Anyone try The New York Times adaptation of Jacques Torres’ recipe?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/091crex.html?ref=jacquestorres&_r=0

I do not usually look at cookie thread….but this is why I primarily do cakes instead of cookies.  It is so challenging to get consistent results.

I never made a cookie either but I have requests from two 8-year-old and one 6-year-old grandchildren for chocolate chip cookies.

The challenge has been put in place!!!!!!!

Maybe you need to make a dozen cookies from a few different recipes, and have them vote!

Good idea! I will work on getting my competitors to the starting gate!

Flour Girl - 08 January 2013 02:18 AM

Anyone try The New York Times adaptation of Jacques Torres’ recipe?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/091crex.html?ref=jacquestorres&_r=0

I’ve made them! they are good. soft but not too soft, chewy just right, pretty looking, easily halved, and i even think that in martha’s site there is the baking time for smaller cookies.

Great! Thank you for your input

In my very first attempts of making chocolate chip cookies, I simply followed the recipe on the Nestle chocolate chip bag, and I was expecting thick, chewy cookies. I used Gold Medal AP flour and whipped up a batch of the batter and used/baked it immediately. What I got were sad, flat cookies that spread across the whole baking sheet.

I then read in Shirley Corriher’s Bakewise about the importance of gluten in limiting the spread of the cookies. I switched to King Arthur AP flour, which has a higher protein content (11.7% +/- 0.2%) than Gold Medal (~10.5%). I also chilled the dough for 36 hours, which allows time for moisture to be absorbed by the flour, leading to a drier dough that spreads less. With this and the higher protein flour, I got plump, thick cookies.

The cookies are delicious fresh out of the oven, but they don’t really retain the chewiness upon standing. They become kind of hard after cooling. I use dark brown sugar, so it is supposed to help retain moisture. I’m thinking I shouldn’t cool the cookies on a cooling rack, but cool them on a tray, so that they will dry less. I’m also trying a batter made with melted butter rather than creaming softened butter. The released water from the melted butter should help develop more gluten and make a chewier cookie. I’ll have to see how this batch turns out.

Chow.com’s “You’re Doing It All Wrong” series features a video on chocolate chip cookies. There are some good tips.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmb7j1e0wts

That is very good to know. thank you michaelnrdx. I would have to make these in advance. I’m wondering if I can make the batter and transport it when I travel and bake them when I arrive. Does the batter have to be refrigerated the entire 36 hours?

The batter would be ok unrefrigerated for a short time if you need to transport it. However, I wouldn’t leave any cookie dough unrefrigerated for too long as there is raw egg and it may spoil. You could also get away with refrigerating for 24 hours, but the longer it sits, the better.

I basically use the Nestle recipe but with King Arthur flour, dark brown sugar instead of light, and resting the dough for 36 hours. I have recently made a batch with melted butter, but I haven’t baked those yet so I don’t know how they will turn out. I hope more chewy! I’ve also found most chocolate chip cookies too sweet for my liking—and of course it would be if I’m using dark brown sugar. I need the dark brown sugar, however, to make the cookies moist, so I think I may try using a very bitter chocolate instead of the usual semisweet chips. Hope that the bitter chocolate will offset the sweet cookie.

Thanks for your suggestions. I think, if I remember correctly Chef Bo Friberg uses dark chocolate instead of semisweet.

You could try ATK “Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie”. It’s very chewy, though a bit too sweet for my liking. There is a very pronounced toffee flavor, unlike any other cookie I have ever eaten.
and you could experiment with adding some molasses- it is very often added to retain chewiness.

Edit: Sorry, ATK= America’s test kitchen. Maybe it was published earlier under “Cook’s Illustrated”