nyt chocolate chip cookies

i've sung my mother's praises here before- she's often the inspiration, if not source, for many of the recipes seen on this blog. growing up, she was a diligent and often ambitious cook. she cooked dinner 6 nights a week, and there was equal likelihood that it would be spaghetti or beef wellington. and my mom is filipino! i've always admired her willingness to take risks in the kitchen; since she's very meticulous and good at time management, she'd take on recipes i wouldn't dream of doing. salt, drain, roast, puree and strain eggplants for soup? no thanks, but my mom is already planning what to serve for the main course. around the time i left for college she started seriously baking, which, in retrospect, i'm surprised she hadn't done earlier, considering her fidelity to recipes. for a baker, a recipe is much more mysterious set of instructions, requiring you to follow in blind faith until many mintues later when you can finally determine if your product is edible. my mom will test a recipe 3 times, changing the amount of the most seemingly insignificant ingredients, in order to come up with the very very best version. she should be on America's Test Kitchen.

so when she called me super excitedly about the new york times article on chocolate chip cookies i knew she'd be a good judge of the recipe. unfortunately, since she lives in california and i live in ny, i wouldn't be the recipient of all her testing. but i'm sure my brother and dad are happy. can you guys please find a way to ship me some?



nyt chocolate chip cookies, revised by my mom

45 minutes, plus 36 hours’ chilling

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour

1 2/3 cups bread flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate (60% cacao) chopped

sea salt

sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. set aside.

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.

when ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. set aside.

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.

yields 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

jewel cookies

i think magazine subscriptions are really great gifts- they're relatively cheap, more than a one-time gift, and, if they're a cooking magazine, provide endless inspiration. i recently started subscribing to Gourmet and the holiday issue was truly inspirational. in addition to the raspberry and mint lollipops and the peppermint marshmallows there was a recipe for these jam-filled shortbread cookies. since one of my favorite cookies are the pepperidge farms verona's, the strawberry jam filled butter cookies i would eat in a circle, saving the jam part for last, i figured these would be a winner in the taste department. an added bonus was how pretty they were in the picture, like little jeweled ornaments for a christmas tree.

make up a batch for christmas, or anytime, actually. i'm going to make them again soon.

jeweled trios

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
three different kinds of jams, i used golden fig, raspberry and blackberry

make dough:
whisk together flour and salt. beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 4 mins, then beat in egg and vanilla. at low speed, mix flour mixture in 3 batches just until a dough forms. divide dough in half and form each piece into a 6 inch disk, then chill, wrapped in plastic, until firm, about an hour. you can chill it for up to 3 days, if needed.

assemble and bake cookies:
preheat oven to 350F with rack in the middle. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
roll three separate level teaspoons of dough each into a ball, then flatten each ball slightly with your fingertips. arrange them in a triangle with the edges touching. using the non-spoon end of a wooden spoon, press an indentation onto each of the three flattened balls. fill the teaspoons with jam, but do not overfill. bake until cookies are baked through and golden brown on edges, about 13 mins. in my oven. cool on baking sheets for five minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely. store with parchment sheets between layers of cookies.