You know that chocolate chip cookie craving? I know you do, there’s no use denying it. I’ve had that craving since about three days ago when I saw these wonderful thin, round cookies, bristling with chocolate chips, at a local patisserie.
I have already mentioned chocolate chip cookies on this blog before – see my Ultimate Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Both are amazing, both are ice cream sandwichable, and I was all prepared to make my Ultimate Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies, but on a whim I took a look in my copy of Pierre Herme’s book Patisserie.
God bless him, but the lovely man had an offering. It had pecans or macadamias plus chocolate chips, and looked a little like the classic recipe for Toll House Cookies, which I don’t personally like very much because they are a bit cakey, and somehow taste eggy. However, the recipe was interesting because it had very long mixing times (the mixing was all done in a food processor). Which got me to thinking. First, Pierre Herme is never wrong. Second, what difference does all the mixing make?
Turns out a lot – the cookies are super fluffy so they rise, spread and ultimately set in a flat but immensely tender way. Thumbs up from me.
This recipe is adapted from Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe in his book Patisserie. I used a little less egg (as I said, I don’t much like eggy cookies), and compensated with less flour. There are no nuts, but you could add some if you liked. I used half as much chocolate, but again, you could amp that up if you liked. It’s important to mix these cookies for as long as the recipe says – I’m sure this has a big impact on their final tenderness.
Big Wide Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes 25-30
ingredients
150g unsalted butter
1 tsp sea salt (I used tahitian vanilla salt)
240g golden caster sugar (regular caster sugar or a mix of caster sugar and brown sugar will also work)
1 egg, jumbo size (weight with shell 67g)
220 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
100g good quality chocolate, cut into small chips
mixing
Beat the butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the salt and sugar and beat until well combined. Add the egg, and beat the mixture for three minutes. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and chocolate chips and beat for two minutes. The mixture will be soft but hold its shape well.
Line a baking tray with bake paper. Scoop rounded tablespoons of mixture onto the tray, spacing the mounds at least 6cm apart (the cookies will spread considerably). Press down lightly with your fingers.
Bake the cookies, one tray at a time, at 170 degrees Celsius for 12 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes on the tray, then transfer the cookies onto a wire rack to cool.
For a summer indulgence (or, lets face it, a winter one), sandwich the cookies together with good quality vanilla ice cream and store, wrapped in the freezer until needed. If you’re making ice cream sandwiches with all the cookies, you’ll need about a litre of ice cream.
Enjoy!
