In search of the perfect chocolate chip cookies

An Australian food critique once said that if you master 10 dishes, they will serve you well for the rest of your life. And I agree with her. So I thought of 10 dishes I want to master. Chocolate chip cookies top my list.

People have different opinions about what chocolate chip cookies should be about. Some like it hot, fresh out of the oven, or cooled at room temperature. Some like it crispy to the centre, some like it crispy on the edge but soft and chewy in the middle. I think it tastes nice warm or cool, but I like mine to have a chewy centre.

Chocolate chip cookie is probably the first baked goods people make in their lives as it is child friendly, simple yet very rewarding. I baked it countless times, but never achieved the perfect stage of cripsy edges with soft centre. I googled over and over, but never met a recipe that I liked. Until yesterday, that is.

I read a lot of blogs, and it appears to me that Jacque Torres recipe is the latest craze. Since it was said that it yields chewy soft centred cookies, I decided to give it a go. It was perfect. I feel forever indebted to him. His recipe requires minimum 24 hour chilling. This process is said to help sugar to absorb fat and liquid.

This is the original recipe but I halved the portion.

I used Montezuma's Organic Cooking Chocolate Couverture

• cake flour 120g
• bread flour 120g
• baking powder 3/4 teaspoons
• coarse salt 3/4 teasoons
• butter 160g
• light brown sugar 140g
• granulated sugar 110g
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
• 280g chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content
• Sea salt.

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 175°C degrees. (350°F)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes.

Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day.

Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Eat it warm with a glass of cold milk, or at room temperature with a hot coffee.