Chocolate chip cookies + salt

Remember Sharples? The land of chicken croquettes, rubbery pasta, and free-flowing ice cream (especially if you accidentally grabbed a too-warm bowl)?

Actually, no. I think I've blocked it out of my head.

Except my stomach remembers some things all too well. Once in a while, I get a huge craving for chocolate chip cookies. I thought it was weird at first, then I remembered that on Mondays, when Sharples serves huge trays of cookies at lunch, half my day's caloric intake would be from those chocolate chip cookies. Now my cookie cravings don't seem so inexplicable.



I experienced it a few days ago after work. So after coming out of the metro I made a beeline for Giant's baking section. When I got home, I pulled up David Lebovitz's salted butter chocolate chip recipe and immediately started working.

When these cookies first came out, I was a little disappointed. The outside was too crunchy, the inside was too soft and gooey (it is possible), and the large salt crystals stood out unpleasantly and were distracting. I blamed it on the apartment's oven, which doesn't even have a light that indicates when the preheating is done.

But after spending a day in the tupperware, the cookies aged beautifully and the texture evened out. The interior became less liquidy as it cooled and the exterior softened just enough as it absorbed some of the air's moisture. It was just a bit crunchy outside and wonderfully chewy on the inside. The flavor of the salt flakes was much less obvious and offered just enough of another dimension.

It turned out that my stomach's timing was perfect. Work last week was incredibly stressful. I repeatedly found myself stepping out of lab after a frustrating day to wolf down 2 or 3 cookies and feeling infinitely better about life. Good thing I still have half a bag of chocolate chips leftover.



Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from David Lebovitz

Makes 24 cookies

I'm personally not a big fan of nuts in my chocolate chip cookies. I think it distracts from the chewy texture of the dough. But if you are, add up to a cup of chopped nuts.

This recipe also requires the dough to be chilled in the refrigerator before baking, preferably overnight. I just chilled it until the entire mass is cold. The NYT, in its infinite wisdom, recommends 72 hours. But if I tried to do that I'd be left with an empty bowl chilling in the fridge.

1 stick of butter (room temperature to make your life easier, esp, if you're mixing by hand)
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon large grain kosher salt
1 1/3 cups chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)

In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and the sugars until creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Then, add the flour, baking soda, salt. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips (and nuts if using) until just combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Roll the dough into 1 1/2 inch-wide balls and space them out evenly on a baking sheet. Depending on your oven and your cookie-crispness preference, bake for 10-15 min, or until the top is a light golden brown. Remove from heat, let cool, and store in an airtight container.