Chocolate Chip Cookie Convert

I know. It seems every post is food or food-related these days. I could show you pictures of me taking an occasional walk on the beach, or learning lines, or hanging out with Sky whenever possible---as that's pretty much what I do when I'm not onstage or doing basic life stuff. That and spending some time in the kitchen. Girl's gotta eat after all and there are only so many trips one can take to the Whole Foods salad bar.

And I know I haven't done a baby update in a while. Not much to report on that front, except that I'm doing what I've been doing (with the occasional timeout for a chocolate chip cookie--Life has to be about that sometimes--keep reading). I have days when I'm so certain it's happening, and other days that I'm scared and sad that it's not. I think that's the journey of healing anything: faith comes and goes and we ride the wave. It helps that I have amazing friends, family and a spectacular husband who believes every single day.

So that time out I mentioned: here are the best chocolate chip cookies you might ever eat.

I am not a chocolate chip cookie person. Give me toffee or almond or scrap the whole idea and just hand me a plate of macarons. I found these via Kristina who got it from Molly. Kristina, myself, and our mother-in-law made a bunch for Kristina and Brock's cocktail party the night before their wedding. Oh, wedding planning! That was fun.

And I have also since learned that MANY people have blogged this recipe. It seems to be the going fave as the quintessential CCC recipe. But in case you haven't been culling food blogs as of late, allow me to introduce you.

These take a little planning because the dough needs to be refrigerated for at least 24 hours. I think they'd be fine without, and in fact once I left some dough out while I baked some others so it was room temp when I used it--the cookies were good, but burned kinda easily. FYI. I actually like that the make and bake are two different stages----I can make the dough, clean up the kitchen, and then baking them is relatively little mess, which makes enjoying them straight out of the oven hanging out in the kitchen that much more fun. These are a little cakey, a little chewy, a little SALTY, and perfectly-barely-crispy on the bottom.

Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour

1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)

Sea salt

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

2. 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. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours. It also can, of course, be frozen: thaw it in the fridge and keep it there for 24 hours when you're ready to use.

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

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. (My testy oven had them done in about 15, so check regularly if your oven is temperamental too). 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 standing up, or lying on the floor savoring every morsel, feed them to someone you love, or take them to a party and prepare to make new friends.

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. I've also in a pinch used bittersweet chips and they were fine.