New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been crazy MIA thanks to grad school (combo of teaching plus research equals no free time). This amazing cookie recipe needed to be shared though! There are a few essential steps to making these cookies. First things first get some patience.

You need to refrigerate the dough for 36 hours before you bake them. I know this seems pretty impossible but SOOOOO worth it. Although, I’ll probably always use this recipe for chocolate chip cookies whether or not I wait the full time. They’re just that good. 

Here are the crucial steps:
Step 1: Do not substitute all-purpose flour. You MUST use both the cake and bread flours. You can find cake flour pretty easily at most grocery stores. I used King Arthur Flour Company bread flour. 

Step 2: The chilling I already mentioned. Super key! 24 hours is the minimum, but you should really wait till 36 hours.

Step 3: Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.

Step 4: Make big cookies! I measured out 160g of cookie dough for each cookie (that’s about 1/3 cup or golf-ball size). This ensures they’re perfectly gooey and chewy.

Step 5: Use the best chocolate you can find. Do not use Nestle Toll House or a grocery store brand. You can use Ghirardelli, Valrhona, or Jacques Torres. I used Guittard and Valrhona. Also make sure you use 60% cacao chips or chunks (I used a mixture).

Step 6: Sprinkle salt before you bake the cookies. Do not use plain ol' table salt; use flaked sea salt.

Step 7: Err on the side of caution when baking the cookies. Don’t bake them too long or else they’ll be overdone and not gooey in the middle. They will still bake a couple minutes on the cookie sheet. Much better to have them underdone than overdone!

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
makes about 30 cookies

2 cups minus 2 Tbsp (8 1/2 oz) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 oz) bread flour
1 ¼ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp coarse salt
1 ¼ cups (10 oz.) unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups (10 oz.) light brown sugar (I actually used dark brown)
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp (8 oz.) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 ¼ pounds bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks (60% cacao content)
Flaked sea salt or kosher salt for garnishing

Whisk the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl then set the mixture aside.

Using a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until they’re very light and fluffy. This takes about 4 to 5 minutes. One at a time, add the eggs, mixing well after each egg. Now mix in the vanilla, then scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Mix again for a few seconds to make sure it’s all mixed well.

Reduce the mixer speed to low then add in the flour mixture a little bit at a time. This will ensure you don’t get a cloud of flour in your kitchen. Lastly mix in the chocolate. You can keep the dough in your stand mixer bowl or transfer it to a different bowl. Press plastic wrap tightly against the dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat oven to 375°F. Remove the bowl of dough from the refrigerator and allow it to soften just a little bit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.

Using a standard-size ice cream/cookie dough scoop or normal spoons, scoop 12 mounds of dough onto the baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Remember you want about 1/3 cup dough per cookie. Sprinkle with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, which is about 15 minutes. Definitely check on them around 14-15 minutes. You don't want to overbake remember! Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies onto the rack to cool more.

Adapted from Jacques Torres 

Grilled Polenta, Carne Asada, and Tomatillo Salsa

I was not the easiest child growing up when it came to eating. Shocker right? I’m still a decently picky eater. However, I am working on it!

That’s where this meal comes in. I haven’t ever eaten polenta like this, and I’m not normally a salsa fan. Too many chunky tomatoes and onions. Plus I dislike spicy foods a lot! The nice thing about making my own salsa is I can make the spicy level to how I like it. I am trying to work on increasing my spicy tolerance though.

This dinner was the best way to start off this week. I’ll probably make myself a mini berry crumble to top it off! I suggest you do the same. You can even cheat a little bit if you like with this meal. You could buy premade polenta in the tube, pre-marinated steak (like I did), and premade salsa. I challenge you to make your own though! Nothing better than being proud of a meal you made yourself.

Polenta cakes

1 ½ cups water

1 ½ cups milk

¾ cup polenta (cornmeal)

1 ½ tsp salt

1 ½ Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp unsalted butter

Bring the water, milk, and salt to a rolling boil. Whisk in the polenta and stir every few minutes. Cook the polenta for about 25 minutes until it is really thick. Remove it from the heat and stir in the butter and parmesan cheese.

Line a 9x9 in baking pan with cling-wrap and spread the polenta into the dish. Press more cling-wrap onto the top of the polenta. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours until you’re ready to grill it.

Once you’re ready to grill, cut the polenta however you would like. I cut mine into four equal sized pieces. You could use a circle cutter and cut circles out. I then sprayed mine with Cisco canola oil spray then grilled it on each side for about five minutes. Pile some steak* and salsa on top of the grilled polenta then dig in.

*Note: my steak is Trader Joe’s Carne Asade.

Tomatillo salsa

6 tomatillos, washed and cut in half

1 jalapeño, cut in half with seeds removed

½ cup sweet onion

2 garlic cloves,

½ cup green olives

1 Tbsp cilantro

juice of one lime

Combine tomatillos, jalapeño, and onion in a grill basket.

Grill over the flames for about 10 minutes. Get some good char on each of the pieces.

Now put the grilled onions, tomatillos, and jalapeño in a food processor (or blender) along with the olives, garlic, cilantro, and lime. Pulse everything until it is smooth.

(Polenta adapted from Lauren’s Latest and tomatillo salsa adapted from FoodieCrush)

Single girl (or guy) berry crumble

Tomorrow is D-day for me. Tomorrow is the 5K I’ve been training for and looking forward to for a couple months. The past few weeks haven’t been easy for me training due to my serious allergy problems. I have vocal chord spasms from a post-nasal drip due to all my nasal congestion, so I have had a lot of problems breathing during my runs outside. I plan to start allergy shots within the next month or two because no amount of medication helps. Now to top it off I have strained right hamstring. It happened this week, but I will still be running! Tomorrow is about more than just me … I’ll be running in honoring of my father.

In honor of my run tomorrow, I thought I’d do a bit of early celebration. I’ve been thinking of making a mini berry crumble over the past few days and thought tonight was as good a night as any (maybe even better!). What better way to pump myself up for tomorrow?

Ps. Remember those strawberries I started growing? These are them! So amazing and worth it :)

Individual berry crumble

1 cup berries (I used strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries)

1 tsp cornstarch

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1/3 cup oats

1 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp fine shredded coconut

1 Tbsp cold unsalted butter

Preheat your oven to 350 degF. Wash and dry berries then combine them with the cornstarch and brown sugar. Place the berries then in a small ramekin (I think mine is a 4oz one, but I’m not sure).

In a small bowl, combine the flour, oats, cinnamon, and shredded coconut then using your fingers work the butter into the dry ingredients.

Sprinkle the mixture over the top of the berries.

Put the ramekin onto a rimmed baking sheet to catch any spillovers and bake for about 25-30 minutes.