A recipe for freaking fantastic chocolate chip cookies by Jacques Torres, via the New York Times. Absolutely worth the planning and fancy ingredients!
A few years ago, I published a recipe for chocolate chip cookies and called them the best I’d ever made. At that point, this was true. I still make that recipe all the time. I almost always have a bag of them individually partitioned in the freezer ready to pop in the oven for those unexpected guests.
That being said, they are no longer the best cookies I’ve ever made. This recipe is both the best chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever made and the best I’ve ever eaten. They are perfectly soft but still chewy and féves, or discs, of chocolate, make every bite packed with melty chocolate. They are insanely delicious.
If you’re going to go through the trouble of making them, I implore you to not take any shortcuts and to not make any substitutions to the recipe. They are 110% worth it. The high-quality chocolate féves can be found on Amazon, or at specialty markets. They are not cheap, but this quality ingredient is one of the things that sets the recipe apart.
I deserve absolutely no credit for this recipe. It’s a wildly famous recipe by Chef Jacques Torres that was published in the New York Times in 2008 to wide acclaim. In fact, I attended a demo by Chef Nancy Silverton, and she said, I quote, “Every amazing chocolate chip cookie you’ve had in any restaurant anywhere is a spinoff of this recipe. People who deny it are lying.” Bold words, but after I made them at home, I’m convinced. They are worth trying yourself, worth the effort, and worth the fancy ingredients.
Now you have a great last-minute chocolate chip cookie recipe that doesn’t need chilling (in this post) and takes ingredients you most likely have on hand. You also have a recipe that’s a bit more labor intensive and takes some planning but is a complete show stopper. Sometimes two bests are just the right amount of best.
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NY Times + Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies
A recipe for freaking fantastic chocolate chip cookies by Jacques Torres, via the New York Times. Absolutely worth the planning and fancy ingredients! Recipe via the New York Times
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 48 minutes
- Yield: 18 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
- 1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
- 2 ½ sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ¼ cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content
- Flaky sea salt, like Maldon
Instructions
- Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugars together until very pale and light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well between additions. Stir in the vanilla.
- Reduce mixer speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds.
- Stir in chocolate pieces without breaking them.
- Press plastic wrap against dough chill in the refrigerator for 24-72 hours. Dough can be used all at once, or in batches.
- To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto a parchment paper lined baking mat. Flatten out any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Bake until golden brown, but still soft, about 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove cookies to another rack to cool further. Best eaten warm.
Notes
No substitutions! Make sure you buy the high quality chocolate and specialty flours recommended in the recipe and chill the dough at least 24 hours (ideally 36) before baking.
Craving insanely delicious chocolate chip cookies? Pin this recipe for later:
Oh wow, these do look incredible! I’ll be trying these out this weekend.
Thanks! I promise they are AMAZING!
I do need some freaking fantastic choc chip cookies in MY life.
Haha, yes you do!
Wowza do these look amazing! I love how they look, too — a little rustic, and not perfectly-perfect (not that there’s anything wrong with that)!
Agreed! They are like snowflakes, haha, each one is unique! 🙂
Oh my goodness!! These look absolutely amaaazing!!
They are, and worth the work!
Oh wow, I have been wanting to make these for years but lost the recipe – thank you!
Awesome, so happy to help!
These look amazing! I need to make a batch or two of them!
Yes! Or three! 🙂
Ooh, I love trying out all sorts of chocolate chip cookie recipes!! These ones look amazing!
These are definitely worth a try!
I am going to put it all together this weekend. I have a friend who just told me about this recipe and then I found your blog. The only giggle I had was when you say it doesn’t need chilling when it needs 24-72 hours of chilling. I was hoping to make these tonight, but looks like I’m going to have to wait until tomorrow night!! Thanks for sharing.
And then I realize my mistake…..
Two recipes in the same article. Oops!!!
Haha, I have to admit I read your comment and was confused for a second and then I realized the mistake! I updated the text to make it more clear. I PROMISE this recipe is WORTH THE WAIT! 🙂
Hi! 3.5 oz cookies were HUGE! All 6 of mine ran together on the sheet. 1.75 oz looks right though…should they really be 3.5 oz??
Hi Paige – This is the exact Jacques Torres recipe as he wrote it. You’re welcome to modify the size.
I just mean, the ones in your pics look like the 1.75 oz ones I ended up making. The 3.5 oz ones are huge! Haha
That’s probably true! I have an ice cream scoop I use for all cookies so the size is consistent. I didn’t even think to weigh them. I do usually end up eating two so I guess I should just do the larger size. 😂
Would it be ok to use all purpose flour instead of the cake flour and bread flour? In quarantine times it’s tough to find the specific flours mentioned. Looking forward to hearing from you and trying out these cookies
I occasionally use all purpose instead of bread flour and I can definitely tell the difference but the cookies taste good. I think cake flour would significantly impact the taste so if you have to swap out both I would just use a different cookie recipe.
All Purpose flour can replace both flours the protein content total would be nearly identical and should not impact the flavor as long as you replaced both flours not just the bread flour.
Make a test for yourself and see if you can really taste the difference I doubt it.