As you know, I love Cook's Illustrated. I also love chocolate chip cookies. So, it was a no-brainer to blog about making their Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies for a chance to attend a live taping of America's Test Kitchen (more details here). And if I had any other doubts, this recipe promises a cookie with crisp edges, a chewy middle, and "rich toffee flavor." I decided to give America's Test Kitchen an idea of what it's like to bake these cookies in my house. Therefore, this post features my sons' toys (because they're easier to include in close-up shots) and music.
Like the folks at Cook's Illustrated, I've made chocolate chip cookies many times before using Nestle's Toll House recipe. The first major difference between the recipes is that the butter is not creamed, but melted and browned to create cookies with chewier texture and nutty flavor. I used my 4-quart saucepan for this step because it would have been difficult for DS1's Star Wars minifigure to see the browning in my nonstick skillets.
Only part of the butter was browned to retain some of the water content. Here is DS1's Harry Potter about to go medieval on the additional butter.
This butter was supposed to be melted in the browned butter. The latter, however, had cooled down too much while I was trying to get a decent shot of Harry (my fault, not his). So, I melted the extra butter using the same saucepan. This modification turned out to be a good thing because it allowed me to retrieve more browned bits.
Next, I added everything except the flour and chocolate. There are number of modifications in the ingredients to improve the texture and flavor, but I think a key change is in the method: the mixture is rested (3 min) and whisked (30 sec) three times. The resting allows the sugar to dissolve in the liquid, leading to more caramelization during the baking.
During the whisk-and-wait series, Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" (which I was listening to in preparation for Glee) was ending on my CD player. Here is a video of the last song which will help you through the waiting:
DS2 also joined me, and got to see how the texture changed from granular to smooth:
He became restless towards the end of the series, so we passed the time watching one of his favorite videos:
I found an even older version of the song, which kept DS2 entertained while I mixed in the flour:
A member of DS1's Hero Factory helped incorporate the chocolate chips. I have to say that these toys are great helpers because they don't constantly ask to taste the dough:
Now the shaping! Cook's Illustrated recommends making larger cookies for greater edge/middle contrast. Here is DS1's bishop checking out the size:
DS2 abandoned me during the 12-minute bake, but had he stuck around, we would have watched his favorite scenes from Don Giovanni. The videos are the perfect length because you can rotate the baking sheet in between them:
Recipe done, the toughest part is refraining from eating the cookies right away - who doesn't love dunking fresh-from-the-oven cookies into milk? Cook's Illustrated, however, suggests cooling the cookies completely, so DS1's Bionicle kept guard over them:
The verdict? These chocolate chip cookies are indeed perfect. They are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside; I no longer have to dunk a warm cookie in milk to achieve such a contrast. I also love how they are multidimensional in taste. The toffee and butterscotch (!) flavors work particularly well with the bittersweet chocolate chips (Ghirardelli's 60% cacao, Cook's Illustrated's favorite brand).
The cookies, however, may appeal more to adults: my boys thought the chocolate was not sweet enough (they also prefer white chocolate). Regardless, I was able to get this photo of DS2 finishing off a cookie. My sentiments, exactly:
