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.
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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]
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Jacques Torres’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ pound unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup plus 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- 1 ½ cups plus 1 tablespoon pastry flour*
- 1 ½ cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda*
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 pound good quality dark chocolate chopped coarsely
Instructions
- 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.
Notes
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.
Katie Rose
These look awesome, care to share? 😉
Nutmeg Nanny
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 🙂
Jamie
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.
Steph@stephsbitebybite
I still have yet to try this recipe, but I think you’ve just inspired me!
Faith (An Edible Mosaic)
Wow, I actually think those are the prettiest chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever seen! Printing recipe now! 🙂
Judy
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.
Tracy
These look delicious! I love chocolate chip cookies.
NoPotCoooking
I enjoyed hearing about the bake-off! And Jacques’s cookies are even better if you refrigerate the dough overnight before baking!
averagebetty
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
Asha@FSK
Woohoo!!! I recognise everyone from the bake off… because I met you all.. sooo soo happy 😀
RJ Flamingo
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
Barbara
I like Anna’s description too! And your photos do them justice. Guess I better add them to my cc cookie list!
Megan
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!
Cathy at Wives with Knives
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.
lisaiscooking
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!
Megan
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!
Kimba's Kitchen
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!!
Mags
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!
Lisa
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.
Rosa
Marvelous cookies! I wouln’t mind eating one now…
Cheers,
Rosa