The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dear Mrs. Wakefield,

I must admit that I feel a little sheepish adding another chocolate chip cookie recipe to the world's ever-growing collection, presuming to be the new "best" recipe. I wonder, do you think it's funny, how many people out there have tried to improve on your original Tollhouse recipe?  Are you rolling your eyes at all of us who can't seem to leave well enough alone? 

As a caveat, I must say that I haven't judiciously tested all the other "best" cookies on the Internet before carefully calculating and assembling my own. This recipe is just what I think is the best, made up of all the things I look for in the perfect chocolate chip cookie. 

I always go through a series of mental calculations as I decide if a chocolate chip cookie is worth going for. In no particular order, here are the things I look for in a perfect cookie:

The Chocolate-to-Dough Ratio: Most of us agree that the primary purpose of a chocolate chip cookie is to serve as a vehicle for getting chocolate into our mouths. The saddest cookie-eating experience is one in which you bite into a chocolate chip cookie without tasting any chocolate. Any good chocolate chip cookie must have huge chunks of chocolate in every mouthful. 

The Type of Chocolate: Now, as much as I love your recipe with the Tollhouse chocolate chips, my favorite chocolate chip cookies don't actually have chocolate chips. I want them to have big-ass pools of chocolate that flood into your mouth as you bit into them. Chocolate chips are too waxy, too small, and just aren't melt-y and chocolate-y enough. And none of this milk chocolate nonsense; the chocolate should be dark and robust, flavoring each bite.

The Dough: I'm also quite picky about the actual cookie dough, which must be delicious in its own right and must balance the chocolate. I look for a darker color dough, flecked with stray chocolate shavings. It should have plenty of brown sugar and vanilla, which translates to a more complex, caramel-like flavor, as well as a little bit of salt to keep it from being sickly sweet. Pale, anemic dough is always a bit of a turn-off for me. 

Texture: And of course, the perennial chewy/crispy debate. Personally, I like my cookies to be crispy just along the outer edge, and very chewy and gooey in the middle. While I think the 6-inch bakery cookies are little over-the top, I do think they need to be on the larger size in order to achieve these two texture qualities.

So here's the resulting recipe, my personal "best" cookie. It's humble, no fuss, no fancy flours or imported chocolate chips (seriously, NY Times cookies, why would you call for low-gluten cake flour and high-gluten bread flour, only to mix them and create the equivalent of all-purpose flour?) While I do recommend giving the dough time in the fridge, they taste just fine if you pop them straight in the oven. Because, let's be honest, who plans a chocolate chip cookie craving 24 hours in advance?

Since you were a baker, Mrs. Wakefield, I'm sure you know that we all like to experiment, and change and perfect. My recipe is not drastically different from other recipes out there, but it tweaks them just so, to make my perfect cookie. 

Caroline

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The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Click here for the printable recipe
Heavily Adapted from The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yields about 15 three-inch cookies

Ingredients
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
12 ounces dark or bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)

Directions
Beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.

Beat in the salt and baking soda. Fold in the flour, followed by the chopped chocolate.
Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour, or up to 24 hours While you can skip this step and bake the dough immediately, the dough will be easier to handle and the cookies will have an improved texture if you refrigerate it first. 

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Drop scoops of about 2 tablespoons of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, about 4 inches apart. Sprinkle the cookies with sea salt, if desired.

Bake the cookies for about 12-13 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. 

Let cool for about 10 minutes, then carefully transfer to a cooling rack and cool for another 10 minutes or so. Serve and eat warm.

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Plant Biology, as Illustrated by Five Cheesecake Brownie Recipes

It's finals season again! I'm currently working on my creative final project for my plant biology class; the theme is "the rise of the sporophyte." For those of you who aren't Professor Kramer and came just for the (five!) cheesecake and brownie recipes, feel free to skip to the bottom.

As land plants evolved, the sporophyte (the diploid, spore-producing part of the plant) became increasingly dominant over the gametophyte (the haploid, gamete-producing part), a process I decided to show visually through brownies and cheesecake.

I developed five recipes to portray different plant groups, with brownies representing the gametophyte and cheesecake representing the sporophyte.

Land plants were originally descended from algae, which follow a haplontic life cycle. Algae are haploid, or have single pairs of chromosomes; they undergo mitosis to form gametes, which fuse to form a diploid zygote. The zygote then immediately goes through meiosis, and gives rise to a haploid algae.

I used a traditional double chocolate brownie recipe to represent algae, since the entire organism is haploid. (This is with my go-to recipe, Alice Medrich's cocoa brownies). 

A group of green algae probably gave rise to modern plants when they invaded the land around 450 million years ago.

The earliest land plants included the bryophytes, such as hornworts, liverworts, and mosses, which made several adaptations to survive life on land. Since they still relied on swimming sperm and fertilization via water, fertilization events were relatively rare. So, bryophytes developed an alternation of generations life cycle. The gametophyte was still the persistent part of their life cycle, but the plants introduced several rounds of mitosis in the fertilized diploid zygote before it underwent meiosis.

I made cheesecake-swirled brownies to represent the development of this new sporophyte generation. The diploid sporophyte (the cheesecake swirl) grew out of the haploid gametophyte (the brownie), and created haploid spores that then gave rise to more haploid plants. The main body of these bars is still the brownie, since the gametophyte is the persistent part of the bryophyte life cycle.

Next comes this black-bottom cheesecake to represent the lycophytes and ferns, and the evolution of vascular plants.

The lycophyte and fern life cycle is comprised of a persistent sporophyte generation and a transient gametophyte generation. What we think of as "the plant" is now the diploid sporophyte. So, this dessert is comprised mainly of cheesecake, which is baked on top of a thinner brownie layer.

The black bottom brownie also works well here since fern gametophytes often grow entirely underground, and the sporophyte grows out of the megagametophyte. The archegonia of the megagametophyte produces eggs, while the microgametophyte produces sperm; the fertilized egg then gives rise to the next generation of sporophyte.

The cheesecake and brownie are separate layers, since the gametophyte and sporophyte are both free-living.

However, with the evolution of the gymnosperms and the development of seed plants, the gametophyte is further reduced and grows entirely within the sporophyte. Thus, the brownie is no longer a separate layer, but is completely surrounded by the cheesecake in this brownie mosaic cheesecake.

The diploid megaspore mother cell in the ovule undergoes meiosis to form haploid megaspores, one of which germinates to form the megagametophyte (the brownie cubes) that lives entirely within the ovule of the sporophyte (the cheesecake layer).  

I should clarify that the brownie in this cheesecake (and in the angiosperm one) represents the megagametophyte, not the microgametophyte. The microgametophyte, which is composed of two cells with three nuclei, is carried to the ovule and the megagametophyte in the form of pollen (usually via wind or insects). 

After fertilization, megagametophyte then becomes the nutritive tissue of the seed; the egg within the gametophyte is fertilized, and gives rise to the new diploid embryo.

The gametophyte is even further reduced in the angiosperms, and usually is only seven cells with eight nuclei within the plant's ovary, which is surrounded by sterile petals and sepals (flowers were another evolutionary development among the angiosperms). Instead of brownie chunks, this chocolate chip cheesecake only has tiny flecks of chocolate representing the angiosperm's seven-cell megagametophyte.

These developments have helped angiosperms become extremely prolific, representing the largest number of plant species (which is understandable, because cheesecake is fabulous!)

Enjoy!

Caroline

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Double Chocolate Brownies

For these double chocolate brownies, I simply added 1/2 cup chocolate chips to Alice Medrich's cocoa brownies and sprinkled another two tablespoons of mini chocolate chips on top.

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Cheesecake-Swirled Brownies

Click here for printer-friendly recipe.
Yields: one 8x8 inch cheesecake
Brownie batter adapted from Alice Medrich's cocoa brownies

Ingredients
For the Brownie Layer
10 tablespoons butter, cubed
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon instant coffee
2 eggs, cold
¼ teaspoon baking powder (optional, see note)
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup all-purpose flour

For the Cheesecake Swirl
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yol

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line an 8x8 inch square pan with aluminum foil, and then grease the foil.

For the brownies, place the butter, cocoa powder, sugar, and instant coffee in a large microwavable bowl.

Microwave until the butter is completely melted, stopping every 30 seconds to give it a stir. The mixture will be fairly thick.
Stir for about a minute to cool the batter slightly, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat the mixture until it is smooth, shiny, and glossy. Mix in the baking powder, flour, and salt.

Pour the batter into the pan.

Make the cheesecake swirl. Beat together the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla extract, and then the egg, until just combined. 

Spoon large dollops of the cheesecake mixture on top of the brownie batter. Run a skewer through the cheesecake to create a swirl pattern.

Loosely cover the pan with a piece of foil (this will prevent the cream cheese swirl from browning), and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10, until the center is just set. (When you insert a toothpick into the center, it won’t come out clean; you want it to be thickly coated with moist crumbs).

Let cool completely, slice, and serve!

Notes
You can omit the baking powder for a denser brownie (they are still pretty fudgy and chewy with the baking powder), but I find that the brownie complements the cheesecake swirl better when it has a tiny bit more lift.

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Black Bottom Cheesecake

Click here for printer-friendly recipe.
Yields: 16 brownies
Brownie batter adapted from Alice Medrich's cocoa brownies

Ingredients
For the Brownie Bottom Layer
5 tablespoons butter, cubed
⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg, cold
1/4  teaspoon salt
¼ cup all-purpose flour

For the Cheesecake
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line an 8x8 inch square pan with aluminum foil, and then grease the foil.

For the brownies, place the butter, cocoa powder, and sugar in a large microwavable bowl.

Microwave until the butter is completely melted, stopping every 20 seconds to give it a stir. The mixture will be fairly thick.
Stir for about a minute to cool the batter slightly, then beat in the egg. Beat the mixture until it is smooth, shiny, and glossy. Mix in the flour and salt.

Pour the batter into the pan.

Make the cheesecake layer. Beat together the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla extract and then the eggs, until just combined. 

Carefully pour the batter over the brownie layer without disturbing the brownie batter.
Bake the cheesecake for 30-35 minutes, or until the center is just set (it should still be slightly jiggly). 

Let cool completely, then refrigerate for several hours, or overnight. For clean slices, run a knife under hot water and wipe dry before cutting the cheesecake, wiping the blade after each cut.

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Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake

Click here for printer-friendly recipe.
Yields: one 8x8 inch cheesecake
Brownie batter adapted from Alice Medrich's cocoa brownies

Ingredients
For the Brownie Cubes
10 tablespoons butter, cubed
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, cold
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup all-purpose flour

For the Cheesecake
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons butter, melted
⅛ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cups sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup sour cream

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line an 8x8 inch square pan with aluminum foil, and then grease the foil.

For the brownies, place the butter, cocoa powder, and sugar in a large microwavable bowl.

Microwave until the butter is completely melted, stopping every 20 seconds to give it a stir. The mixture will be fairly thick.
Stir for about a minute to cool the batter slightly, then beat in the egg. Beat the mixture until it is smooth, shiny, and glossy.

Mix in the flour and salt.

Pour the batter into the pan. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the center is just set. (When you insert a toothpick into the center, it won’t come out clean; you want it to be thickly coated with moist crumbs).

Let the brownies cool completely, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
You’ll only need about a third of the pan for the brownie cubes. Set aside the other two thirds to enjoy on their own! Cut the remaining third into ½-inch cubes.

Make the cheesecake crust. Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, butter, salt, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Press the crumbs into a smooth layer on the bottom of the baking pan.

Make the cheesecake filling. Beat together the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla extract and then the eggs, until just combined. Fold in the sour cream, followed by the brownie cubes.

Pour the cheesecake batter over the crust. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the center is just set, but still slightly jiggly. Let cool completely, then refrigerate overnight.

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Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Click here for printer-friendly recipe.
Yields: one 8x8 inch cheesecake

Ingredients
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons butter, melted
⅛ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips, divided

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line an 8x8 inch square pan with aluminum foil, and then grease the foil.

Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, butter, salt, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Press the crumbs into a smooth layer on the bottom of the baking pan.

Make the cheesecake filling. Beat together the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and then the eggs, until just combined. Fold in the sour cream, followed by ¼ cup mini chocolate chips.

Pour the cheesecake batter over the crust, and sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips on top.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the center is just set but still slightly jiggly. Let cool completely, then refrigerate overnight.

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Related Posts

Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Cup

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Really, I don't know if I can ever get used to the hectics of moving in back to campus every year for the start of the fall quarter. Still, it's good to be back in Evanston and reuniting with familiar faces without the pressure of classes, at least for yesterday and today. And then school starts, and that's a whole different story.

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Things I've noticed while moving back:

• Seeing the freshmen still in the midst of orientation week -- Oh the days when I too was a freshman and traveled in packs with the other freshlings. Now, I just feel old and cynical and maybe just a tiny bit wiser after these two years. We'll see what this third year brings!
• Why do I have so much STUFF? Sometimes I wonder how life would be easier if I didn't have so much clothing and not enough closet space.
• That awkward moment when you accidentally walk in on an elderly woman using what you thought was supposed to be your suite's designated private bathroom but apparently is just a regular free for all for any passersby who need it.
• But otherwise, the single life rocks (dorm-speak).
• Free laundry! I will not hold back on laundry any longer! haha

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Anyway, this cookie in a cup. As a small indulgence after long days...I think this is totally acceptable. Wonderfully simple and delicious when served warm with ice cream. Really, can anything beat a warm, fresh cookie? No, there isn't. (As long as you don't count cookie dough eaten in the raw.)

Love,
Monica

One year ago: Perfect Couple Chocolate Chip Cookies
6 months ago: Linzer Heart Cookies
3 months ago: Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Cup

From Number 2 Pencil   |   Time: 10 minutes   |   Yield: 1 serving

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 drops pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 egg yolk
Scant 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (slightly less than ¼ of a cup)
2 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Combine melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Then add egg yolk, then flour. Fold in chocolate chips. Transfer dough into microwave-safe mug or ramekins. Microwave for 40 - 60 seconds. Keep in mind the cookie will continue cooking as it cools, so don't microwave for too long. Top with ice cream or eat as is. Enjoy!

Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are truly a legend to behold. If not for the tender crumb and crispy edges, then surely because of the warm gooey chocolate hazelnut center. Nutella, you may be wondering? ...No, it's even better. Nocciolata gave us some free samples of their product to use in baking (or plain eating with a spoon). You may recall Caroline using this organic hazelnut spread in her exquisite and beautifully braided bread, and now, I present to you...perhaps a less daunting endeavor that incorporates Nocciolata (or any filling of your choice, for that matter).

Cookies! (Read on.)

I really am a firm believer of cookies dipped in milk. It makes the experience that much more divine.

Here's a close up of the Nocciolata spread that I bet you were dying to take a look at. It took every ounce of my self-control not to eat all of the Nocciolata in order to have enough for the cookie filling. Which is--let's not kid ourselves--basically the whole point of making these cookies.

The Nocciolata filling really takes spotlight in these cookies. Be generous with the dollops. You'll thank me later.

Really, how could you not drool after seeing these photos? I'm daydreaming of when I can make these cookies again. They're soft and tender straight from the oven, with an intense gooey chocolate hazelnut center. Let them cool to room temperature, and it gets even better. The cookies acquire a soft and chewy texture that'll last for days afterward, and that's truly a selling point for me (along with the addicting lingering aroma of a cookie that lures helpless cookie-lover victims from close and afar).

Not that I'm saying these cookies will be around for that long though. As an experiment, I tried saving one single cookie in a jar for as long as possible, prohibiting my brother or anyone else from eating it. It was a pretty excruciating experience for everyone involved, staring at the one lone piece of cookie in the jar for all those days. But hey, who said it's easy to get the facts? Now you know.

These cookies smell amazing. More than the usual amazing of a cookie smell. I think it's the Organic Coconut Sugar from Trader Joe's that I used in this recipe. I've never smelled anything quite like it, and I think I could smell the sugar all day. Heh.

Cheers,
Monica

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Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Love & Olive Oil, originally from Savory Sweet Life

Yield: 20 cookies | Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
1/4 cup Nutella, cookie butter, or filling of choice
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup (12 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar for 3 minutes on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Then add baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour. Mix by hand or on low speed until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop a heaping tablespoon of dough (or medium cookie scoop). Divide and place half of dough ball on prepared baking sheet. Drop a generous dollop of desired filling into center, then top with the other half of dough. Press to seal in the filling. Arrange on baking sheet with at least 2 inches of space between each cookies. (They will spread while baking.) Bake for 10 to 11 minutes, or until centers are just set and edges are golden. Cool, serve, and enjoy!