Dorie’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

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When I saw these cookies over at Patricia’s site I knew I had to make them — They called my name.

I have been eyeing the red Chips Ahoy! bag but I couldn’t bring myself to open it. Surely I can make some and they will be better than store-bought, I told myself. So I did.

And they were simply awesome– sweet and chewy, with a slight nutty flavor from the chopped hazelnuts. [The original recipe calls for pecans.]

Having frozen most of the 59 dough balls (recipe said it makes 45), I’ve baked them twice already. They were the perfect size for me — not too small, and not too big that I get full just from looking at them. For the baking times, try 8 minutes first. Ten minutes in our oven made it too crunchy once it cools, like above.

Dorie makes good cookies. C’mon, give it a try. You know you want it this weekend! The recipe follows as usual:

Dorie’s best chocolate chip cookies
[*slightly altered recipe]

2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks (226g/8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200g) sugar
2/3 cup (115g) packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
12 ounces (335g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 2 cups (340g) store-bought chocolate chips or chunks [*I used Guittard semisweet chips]
1 cup (100g) finely chopped pecans [*I used chopped hazelnuts.]

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

2. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda.

3. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for about 1 minute, until smooth. Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes or so, until well blended. Beat in the vanilla.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in 3 portions, mixing only until each addition is incorporated.

5. On low speed, or by hand with a rubber spatula, mix in the chocolate and nuts. The dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen. If you’d like, you can freeze rounded tablespoonfuls of dough, ready for baking. Freeze the mounds on a lined baking sheet, then bag them when they’re solid. There’s no need to defrost the dough before baking – just add another minute or two the baking time.

6. Spoon the dough by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving about 5cm (2in) between spoonfuls.

7. Bake the cookies – one sheet at a time and rotating the sheets at the midway point – for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are brown at the edges and golden in the center; they may be still a little soft in the middle, and that’s just fine. Pull the sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for 1 minute, then carefully using a wide metal spatula, transfer them to racks to cool to room temperature.

8. Repeat with the remainder of the dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

Makes 45