Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been wanting to make the famous Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookies for a while now, and they did not disappoint!  These are cookies for serious chocolate chip cookie lovers.  They are loaded with chocolate, they are super moist and chewy, and they are probably the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had.  They aren't hard to make, you just need patience as the dough sits in the refrigerator for a couple of days so all of the flavors can meld.  As long as you use the dough within 72 hours, you can make several batches of cookies, which I really liked because, as everyone knows, cookies fresh out of the oven are the best.

Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups minus 2 Tbsp cake flour

1 2/3 cups bread flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar

1 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate, at least 60% cacao content

sea salt, for sprinkling

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

Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars 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, 5-10 seconds.  Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them.  Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24-36 hours.  Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

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

Scoop mounds of dough (slightly smaller than golf balls) onto baking sheet.  Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 15-18 minutes.  Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another wire rack to cool a bit more.  Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated with plastic wrap against dough, for baking remaining batches the next day.

source:  The New York Times