Joanne Chang's (Flour Bakery) Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's been difficult to make any significant headway into the plethora of baked goods in my freezer during the shelter-at-home.  We're not natural bread-eaters; although we love it in all its forms, we just don't have that bread-eating habit that Americans of European descent have of eating sandwiches oftentimes as much as once or twice a day, or eating bread as a side dish to dinner, and therefore making short work of plowing through loaves of bread and other baked goods.  

At some point, though, it became difficult to repress my usual stress-/procrasti-baking tendencies, and also baking projects provide fun activities to keep the kiddo occupied for a little while.  Furthermore, with all the sourdough love on the Internet these days, I felt like I need to keep Gus in peak condition to flex some sourdough muscles and show everyone he's still got his skillz.  (Spoiler: Yes, he still does!)  And so despite good intentions to preserve my flour reserves for as long as possible, I have a bunch of recipes in queue to share with you (and more yummy baked goods squirreled into my freezer). 

So we started with a classic, chocolate chip cookies!  This recipe was carefully selected to cater to the kiddo, as she has long rejected my personal favorite type of chocolate chip cookies as having too many oats and nuts.  In other words, she just wanted a simple chocolate chip cookie.  This one from Joanne Chang of the Flour bakery chain in Boston seemed like a winner, with some food science and experience-based improvements to what essentially is a homage to the original Toll House recipe.  

And the verdict?  A resounding thumbs up from all members of the family, including the kiddo!  Yay!  Very interestingly, I discovered that the sweet spot for the best chewy texture and crumb is probably 24 hours after baking, after sitting in an airtight container.  My husband has always wisely waited until cookies cooled all the way to taste, as the out-of-oven molten texture is always misleading and not optimal (in our minds), but I've only noticed the day-after improvement with this recipe.  I'll have to pay more attention with other recipes!  Also, I baked some cookies on the day of making the cookie dough, and some after resting the dough 24 hours in the fridge, and we couldn't really tell a profound difference...they were fabulous either way!!

Flour Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies 
adapted from Joanne Chang, via an article in The Atlantic

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
¾ cup (175 grams) light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cup (175 grams) all-purpose flour
1 cup (160 grams) bread flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups (250 grams) chopped semisweet chocolate
½ cup (70 grams) finely chopped milk chocolate

Directions:
Into a medium bowl sift the all purpose flour, bread flour, baking soda, and salt.  Whisk to combine evenly.  Add the chopped chocolates into the flour mixture and toss to combine. Set aside. 

With an electric mixer or stand mixer (paddle attachment), beat together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy (~5 minutes), scraping down the sides of the bowl intermittently to ensure good mixing.  Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until completely combined (about 2-3 minutes).  

Add the flour-chocolate mixture to the butter-sugar-egg mixture and mix using the lowest setting on your mixer, or fold in using a spatula.  Mix until wet and dry mixtures are evenly combined (I find using a spatula by hand at the end helps gets all the dry bits at the very bottom of the bowl).

Cover and rest dough in refrigerator for up to 24 hours for best results, or you can bake immediately.  When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (for best accuracy, use an oven thermometer) with a rack placed in the center slot of the oven.  Line 1-2 cookie sheets with parchment or silicone mat.

Reasonably-sized cookies (what I did): Use a medium cookie scoop (~1 tablespoon) to portion dough balls, placing ~2 inches from each other on a baking sheet and flattening each ball slightly with your hand.  Bake 10-12 minutes (I think I did 11-12 minutes), or until the edges of the cookies are golden-to-tan brown and the middle of the cookies are just set (doesn't look wet).  Remove from oven and cool a few minutes on the cookie sheet, and then use a spatula to transfer to a cooling rack.  I like to lift one edge of the pan immediately upon removal from the oven and let it drop and bang against the counter (cushioned by pot holders) once to deflate the cookies -- makes them a little less puffy/cakey and makes the cookies look nicer because it deepens the crevices, but purely optional and totally my own quirk.  Depending on your preference, eat as soon as they are cool enough to eat safely for ooey-gooey cookies, but for through-and-through chewy, wait until next day after storing in airtight container.  Let cookie sheet cool down completely (or use second cookie sheet) and continue baking until all the dough is used up.  Cool completely before storing in airtight container or freezing.

Bakery-sized cookies: Use a muffin scoop or measuring cup to portion ¼-cup balls onto a baking sheet about two inches apart. Press dough balls down slightly with the palm of your hand.  Bake until cookies are golden brown on the edges and slightly soft in the center, 15 to 18 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool completely on baking sheet before transferring to cooling rack.  Repeat with second cookie sheet or after waiting for first pan to cool completely.

Storage: The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days before it starts to suffer in texture (they get drier and crumblier and lose the chew). The unbaked dough can be stored for up to a week in an airtight container in the fridge.  Unbaked, pre-portioned dough balls can be frozen (in ziploc bag or airtight container) and baked off (just add 1-2 minutes to bake time depending on size), or baked cookies can also be stored frozen in a bag/container for long term storage.