Thank you to everyone for all of your support and good wishes for me in the Bake-Off. I recieved over 340 comments on my Snickerdoodle Snack Cake Bake-Off post! It was so fun traveling to New York, meeting the other contestants and competing in my first bake off in the Unilever Test Kitchens. Congratulations to Sara, Average Betty, for her winning Snowball Cupcake recipe.
The I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! Bake-Off judges were so nice and liked my Snickerdoodle Snack Cake. Normajean, Unilever’s Test Kitchen Director, said it did taste like a Snickerdoodle cookie and Barry, ICBINB Brand Manager, even ate his entire sundae. The PR firm who arranged the trip was awesome and took care of every little detail. We were treated to limo rides, cooking demonstrations, and breakfast and lunch at the Test Kitchen with some of the delicious recipes they’ve created in the Test Kitchen for the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! website.
Anna, Cookie Madness, was also one of the contestants. (She won the Pillsbury Bake-Off in 2006.) Anna did a great recap of the Bake-Off and while I was there reading her recap, of course I had to check out her cookie recipes. She has a great top 10 list of favorite cookies and I’d love to bake my way through it one day.
But it was her description of Jacques Torres’s Secret Chocolate Chip Cookie that really caught my eye. “Crunchy edges, tender centers, lots of nooks & crannies and plenty of chocolate. These are the perfect chocolate chip cookies. Your friends will think you bought them at a bakery.” Since I had some Scharffen Semisweet Dark Chocolate Baking Chunks in the pantry that I’d been saving for a fantastic recipe, I decided to give Jacques recipe a try.
I baked one batch of the huge 4 oz chocolate chip cookies and they do bake up like a beautiful bakery cookie. I like my chocolate chip cookies a little more chewy in the middle, but these are the prettiest chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made and they would make a great Christmas gift individually wrapped. [/donotprint]
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon pastry flour*
- 1 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda*
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 pound good quality dark chocolate, chopped coarsely
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats; set aside. Don’t grease the baking sheets because this might cause extra spreading.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and add vanilla, then add both flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate; mix until well combined.
- Using a 4-ounce scoop for larger cookies or a 1-ounce scoop for smaller cookies, (I used a very generously rounded tablespoon) scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until lightly browned, but still soft, about 20 minutes for larger cookies and about 15 minutes for smaller cookies. If you use a rounded tablespoon, check your cookies at 12 minutes. Cool slightly on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- *I reduced the baking powder to 3/4 teaspoon and baking soda to 3/4 teaspoon to adjust for high altitude baking. Since they didn't have pastry flour at my grocery store, I substituted cake flour as suggested on Martha Stewart.
This post is part of a 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies blog hog. Be sure and check out all of the fabulous cookies the other 12 weeks of Christmas Cookies bakers baked up this week.
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I love to bake, especially cookies, cakes, and pies. I’ll post my adventures in the kitchen, my favorite new recipes, as well as our family favorites.
Marvelous cookies! I wouln’t mind eating one now…
Cheers,
Rosa
Sounds like you had a really fun time at the bake-off. These cookies do look really good. I haven’t tried this recipe yet but I’ve seen tons of rave reviews about it.
I love trying new chocolate chip cookie recipes and definitely will try this version.
Glad to hear you had a great time in New York!
Sounds like you had a fantastic time in New York!! Love these cookies, I’m having a cuppa tea now and kinda wish I had some of these cookies to go with my tea!!
I like me some chocolate chip cookies an the bigger the better! I’m glad it was a good time in NYC. It looks like your sundaes turned out beautiful!
The bake-off sounds like a lot of fun! And, those are delicious-looking cookies. I like big chocolate chip cookies like this, so these could easily become a favorite!
It sounds like you had quite the adventure, Barbara. It must have been so much fun to participate in the bake-off. As much as I enjoy all the fancy treats at holiday time chocolate chip cookies are always my first choice. I’ve put this recipe on my baking list.
I’m always looking for new chocolate chip cookie recipes! These look absolutely fantastic
And I’m so glad you had a great time at the bake-off!
I like Anna’s description too! And your photos do them justice. Guess I better add them to my cc cookie list!
Those do sound awesome – but I’d expect no less from Jacques Torres! Drooling as we speak. The bake-off sounds like fun! Hope they treated you like the royalty you are. xox
Woohoo!!! I recognise everyone from the bake off… because I met you all.. sooo soo happy
Barbara, it was so wonderful to meet you and all the ladies… It is a little dangerous getting to know you — you bake too many delicious treats I feel compelled to try! xoxo
I enjoyed hearing about the bake-off! And Jacques’s cookies are even better if you refrigerate the dough overnight before baking!
These look delicious! I love chocolate chip cookies.
Barbara, your NY trip was a dream come true. I made the JT ccc a couple years ago, not one of my faves. For some reason I just have to have nuts in my ccc, and his is loaded up with chocolate (he is a chocolatier after all) and no nuts, making for a very sweet cookie. Too sweet for my pre-diabetic body. Probably if I were younger I would like them as much as Anna does.
Wow, I actually think those are the prettiest chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever seen! Printing recipe now!
I still have yet to try this recipe, but I think you’ve just inspired me!
Congrats on your first bake-off. Sounds like a wonderful experience. These chocolate chip cookies look amazing. Who wouldn’t want these on their cookie trays? I need to give this recipe a try.
I’m still jealous you got to travel to NYC and participate in a bake-off. How much fun! These cookies look great. I love the big chunks of chocolate
These look awesome, care to share?
These look wonderful, Barbara! They definitely look like they came right out of a bakery. Sounds like the Bake-Off was lots of fun too!
Hmmmm – These cookies look absolutely picture perfect Barbara.
I’m so glad it went well! Those cookies look great!
It sounds as though you had a wonderful time, Barbara. These cookies look and sound fantastic. Jacques Torres definitely knows what he’s talking about!
Oh Wow Barbara. Did you find the bake off a bit nerve wracking? I always found competition cooking pretty intense, sounds a wonderful experience and these cookies sound great, I mean seriously…. the world could never have enough chockky cookies right, so this one is great.
it’s a total chocolate chip cookie day for me today, so there is a very good chance of me making these!
I’m sure you had lots of fun there during the event & congrats to the winner! Btw, this cookies looks great Thanks for the recipe and happy weekend.
Kristy
I always love seeing friends gather up the courage and participate in things like this bake-off! And it sounds like you had such a fabulous time. Thanks for all the links. And these cookies look and sound amazing and I’ve so bookmarked them. My kind of cookies indeed!
Glad you had fun at the bake-off Barbara! Mm, another choc-chip cookie to add to my burgeoning list
Have a yummy weekend.
Super Barbara, just so SUPER that you went off to NYC for the bake-off. Am so happy for you, and loved this post. Love the cookies too, and you have me nibbling a corner of your blog with the description. This is just how I love them too GF… I’ll just have to make them with whichever chocolate I have! HUGS!!!
Hi Barbara,
Those look gorgeous dear..as always…:0
Dr.Sameena@
http://www.myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.com
Hi,
They look gorgeous dear…:)
Dr.Sameena@
http://www.myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.com
Barbara – You are so right – these really are very pretty cookies! I’m curious about the use of the pastry flour (it’s an approach I haven’t tried before). I wonder if it’s the pastry flour that gives them their crisp edges? Seems like most cc cookies with that much brown sugar are almost always chewy. Either way, they look absolutely delicious and I think it was just the right recipe to break out the Scharffenberger.
Mi ripeto sei bravissima nell’arte di fare i biscotti, anche questi dono perfetti e molto invitanti. Buona domenica Daniela.
It sounds like you had a marvellous trip mum! I’ve always wanted to go back to NY and it sounds like you saw it in style. Well done!
xxx
How excellent meeting and all that delicious stuff there – I’m gaining weight only watching- but worth
My sweet tooth is at the sky right now – that chocolate chip cookies are awesome!
Cheers,
Gera
I am glad NYC was fun!!!! These cookies are beautiful and they look delish!
What fun you must have had at the Bake-off and these choc chip cookies do look fantastic. I have an award for you over at my blog. I hope you will accept as you so deserve it!
Your chocolate chip cookies look wonderful. I’ve heard of this recipe before, and I’m tempted to try it out!
Sounds like you had a great time at the bake-off. You look great in your photos!
I am so not a cookie baker but I do enjoy eating them.
Thanks for sharing your bake off experience with us!
~ingrid
Anna has some great recipes on her site, and this certainly looks like a winner. Glad you had a good experience at the bakeoff.
beautiful chocolate chip cookies!! i have a favorite ccc recipe, but i love trying new things, so i’ll definitely test these out. they look yummy!
That looks such fun! I would love to host a US style cookie swapping event in London, I read about one in the Martha Stewart magazine and have wanted to do it ever since!
Oh boy , im so glad u have fun and enjoyed so muc!!!
U deserved it and made the best and i loveeeeddd ur SD snack cake too, and now i loveee this gorgeous cookie coz i love crispy and i can see if i bake a little longer they will no longer be chewy n the middle:-)
Happy holidays!
Sounds like you had a blast, Barbara! What fun! Jacques Torres is such a chocolate expert that I’m sure these chocolate chip cookies are as exceptional as they look:)
Oh god those cookies look sooooooooo good, and what an amazing experience. I wish i got the chance to try those cookies when I was in NY… alas, I guess I can make my own
… i guess (so lazy!)
Wishing you and your family a wonderful thanksgiving.
*kisses* HH
Hmmm that look so good.
What a wonderful event for you to be part of…especially the 5 star treatment that went along with it ;o) I’m glad your recipe got great attention…maybe next year you’ll bring home the big prize. For now, I’m sure you’ll have this as a blessed great memory. I’m so envious right now ;0)
Thanks for this choco chip cookie recipe…we can never have enough trys!
Ciao for now,
Claudia
Yes, I’m behind. Fun recap of the trip to NYC for the bake-off.
You should have gone TO a Jacques Torres chocolate shop while there and tasted
his cookies if you haven’t before.
That said, yours look great! I love that recipe and use it a lot!
So fun to read about your experience in the test kitchen! I’m so behind on blogs, but had to come directly to yours first to see how you had done. It sounds like you did enjoy yourself, but maybe it was too quick?