Chocolate Chip Cookies
I have always loved to bake treats and eat treats. My food memories lean heavily toward the sweet: creating hamburger cakes with my grandmother Mimi during one of her visits (if you haven’t heard of these I encourage you to look up a picture and try them!); small pots of chocolate mousse at the farmers market every Saturday; my dad doling out squares of half frozen chocolate on the chair lift to keep us powered through days of skiing. But there is one baked good that comes up again and again: the chocolate chip cookie. It’s what my cousin and I would make every sleepover, eating at least half the dough before we even baked any into cookies. What my grandmother Preshy always had for dessert after lunch, big flat chewy ones with Ghirardelli chocolate chips. The dessert I missed the most when my family lived abroad and the ingredients for which we’d ask visitors to bring so we could recreate a taste of home in a foreign place. With a chocolate chip cookie, even a mediocre one, you knew what you were going to get, and it would satisfy that craving for sweet and nostalgia.
Taste testing cookies in San Francisco
About a year ago I decided to find my perfect chocolate chip cookie and it has been a delicious challenge. Nowadays my taste buds have changed and I ask a bit more from my desserts, wanting them to strike a balance between sweet and savory. I seek out desserts that incorporate interesting flours, new spices, or savory ingredients. Throw some tahini in there and you can bet I’ll be trying it! My ideal cookie has a crispy edge, blending into a chewy inner ring and a gooey interior. I like a decent amount of chocolate but not so much that you can’t taste the cookie itself. The cookie should taste buttery and caramelly, and there MUST be flaky salt on top. I love mix-ins and variations, but in my search for the best classic chocolate chip cookie, I have hit upon a few key factors that are essential:
I like to incorporate more than one type of flour to add more depth of flavor and help with the texture
A mix of chocolates (85% and 70% are my preferences but I like especially dark!)
Brown butter is a must
Dark brown sugar or muscovado sugar for extra caramel flavor
Resting the dough at least 24 hours to improve flavor
Flaky salt!
I have baked many recipes and eaten many chocolate chip cookies across London. My search still continues, but below are some of my current favorites:
Recipes
Butter & Brioche Spelt Chocolate Chip
Vanilla Bean Blog Chocolate Chip Cookies
Smitten Kitchen Whole Wheat Oat Cookies
Bakeries
If you have any recipes or bakeries I need to try, send them my way! Happy baking and eating.
Xx Anna
