Chocolate Chunk Cookies...

Jeff has been and will be in a few intensive meetings this week - he originally thought about skipping the Weekly Treat Day, but I thought bringing in a plateful of cookies might be a nice way to lighten the mood. He agreed - I zeroed in on a recipe I've had marked ever since I picked up that snazzy cookbook I can't keep my nose out of. These Chocolate Chunk Cookies are basically a rift on the classic, well-known Toll House recipe, yet seemingly injected with steroids.

When you have the buttery dough combined (if you have a scale, definitely haul it out for this recipe - I've included both gram and cup measurements), scoop the mass into a separate container or leave it right in the mixing bowl - cover, then as hard as this might be, stash it in the refrigerator and forget about it for a day. Believe me, I know wholeheartedly this is torturous, but trust me with the fact that you will be rewarded for your patience.

Why is this really that important? If you give the dough that aging time, the flour has time to absorb all the liquid-y properties from the butter and eggs, resulting in a well-textured cookie that has practically accelerated its own flavors into another level. Probably a little dramatic on my part, but I could taste the difference.

If you have a few exquisite bars of quality semi or bittersweet and milk chocolate that you've been wanting to use, break them out for these cookies. While I did use a bar of milk chocolate, I decided to use bittersweet chips only because I had a bag of excellent drops already in the pantry. I would suggest using a higher end brand that has at least 60% cocoa content to truly give these cookies that dark chocolate wallop they deserve.

I didn't look for reviews of the cookie before I made the dough, but I noticed how it seemed almost too light and sticky once it was thoroughly mixed. I searched around and found that the author posted the same recipe here, but the measurements for the both flours were a bit different. They ended up being about 1/4 cup off, so I went ahead and stirred the extra in a couple hours after the dough had been chilling out in the refrigerator - the texture definitely seemed better. If you'd like to try and match the dough to exactly what is listed in the cookbook, bring the all-purpose flour down to 140 grams (about a cup) and the bread flour down to 150 grams (again, about one cup). Let me know how they turn out that way!

Now, did this affect the cookie? I think so, but in the positive factor - they had some definite heft in the thickness department, but at the same time they were not too puffy or cake-y. The edges are crispy, while the centers stayed soft with a delightful sweet chew (thanks to the strong bread flour!). I think that if the extra flour would not have been added, the cookies may have spread into thinner, flat rounds - not what I had hoped for. I'm sure they still would have tasted wonderful, but texture can make all the difference!

Recipes
Chocolate Chunk Cookies