New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

he biggest selling cookie in the United States is the chocolate chip cookie, which is no surprise. (Except to you die-hard Thin Mints people, who have hoards of those delicious morsels in your freezers. Thanks for supporting our Girl Scouts!)  But, did you know that chocolate chip cookies were originally called Chocolate Crunch Cookies?

Like all great things in history, they were made by mistake. In 1930, an ingenious woman named Ruth Wakefield was in the midst of baking Butter Drop Do cookies and realized that she was out of bakers chocolate. Not one to give up in the kitchen, she then chopped up a Nestle’s Semisweet Yellow Label Chocolate bar into small pieces and add the pieces into her cookie dough. Though she hoped the chocolate would melt into the dough, the pieces just softened a bit and created the modern day chocolate chip cookie.

Okay, enough trivia.  Here’s what you’ve been waiting for…the famous New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe! (You can find a modified version here at The Other Side of Fifty blog. The photos below are courtesy of this fabulous blog.)

Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. 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.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. 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.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

Note: Disks are sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate; Valrhona fèves, oval-shaped chocolate pieces, are at Whole Foods.

Try making these instead of the traditional Nestle Tollhouse recipe and compare….let me know which you prefer.