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I recently put my foot in my mouth, again. Speaking at a writer’s conference and rambling on at the podium, as usual, I offered up that I don’t think of cooking or baking as love. It’s cooking and baking. Maybe because I was a restaurant cook for so long and spent decades pumping out food (which would have been a lot of love-making), I think of food as, well…food.
Of course, right after my talk and I left the podium, the screen behind me flashed in large letters: “Food As Love,” announcing the next topic, followed by a group of food writers coming onto the same stage to talk about how food was love.
Oops.
I do, however, love bakers. One happens to be baker Joanne Chang, who has a new book out called Pastry Love: A Baker’s Journal of Favorite Recipes. That’s certainly fitting for Joanne, since she is, indeed, a lovely person, and if you meet her (or eat any of her treats) you’ll love her. I’m not sure that description applies to me (just ask the people that went on the panel after I spoke at that conference…) but I do love chocolate chip cookies. So don’t hate me.
I remember when I spent a week baking at Spago in Los Angeles back in the ’90s, so I could work with Nancy Silverton. During staff meal, somehow the talk turned to chocolate chip cookies, and Wolfgang Puck announced in his thick Austrian accent, “I don’t like soft chocolate chip cookies. I like my chocolate chip cookies crisp.”
And he’s not alone. I’ve noticed that people love those Tate’s chocolate chip cookies, which are crisp, not chewy. I was skeptical when I saw those bags of thin, crisp chocolate chip cookies in a U.S. supermarket. But when someone brought me a bag to try, I found them compelling (i.e.; irresistible) and had no trouble polishing off the sack.
So I was delighted to see a recipe in Pastry Love for thin, crisp chocolate chip cookies. I got an advance PDF copy of the book before it was published, and the internet is great for a lot of things, but I still like to bake from an actual cookbook, so I anxiously awaited the cookbook to be published.
Since receiving it, I haven’t gotten to the seed-filled Breakfast Cookie recipe yet, but the Flower Power Date Bars tastes like what you wish an energy bar tasted like, and they’re vegan, gluten-free, and without any refined sugar. While some people don’t (or can’t) love butter, gluten, or sugar, I loved those bars.
Somehow, Joanne managed to practically reinvent baking with this book and it’s one of those rare cookbooks where I really do want to make everything in it. The recipes are do-able and each one is photographed, so you know what you’re getting into. There are Spelt Croissants, Vegan Chocolate-Banana Muffins, and Apple Cider Sticky Buns (and Sticky Bun Kouings Amanns, too) as well as a Double Lemon Tart, Dulce de Leche Brioche buns, colorful Peppermint Meringues and Double Chocolate Rye Cookies, which are next on my baking roster.
But for now, yes, many chocolate chip cookies were consumed in the making of this post. The original recipe produced thin chocolate chip cookies that had some heft to them. They were excellent but I wanted them even thinner, and more caramelized. So I took out a little of the flour, which worked perfectly, and I got that crispy-thin texture that I was looking for, which I love.
Adapted from Pastry Love: A Baker's Journal of Favorite Recipes by Joanne ChangI found the original recipe yielded a nice cookie but they were a little thicker than I was expecting and while delicious, the cookies weren't entirely crisp. If you want to stick to the original recipe, use 2 cups (280g) of flour. You do want to make sure you bake these cookies on the upper rack of the oven, so they don't get too dark on the bottoms before the tops are browned. And be sure to watch them like a hawk during the last few minutes of baking; the baking times are guidelines so check the cookies a few minutes before the listed baking times and remove the cookies from the oven at the moment when they're gently browned all the way across the top. You can either buy superfine sugar (which is sometimes called Baker's sugar) or in French, it's sucre en poudre, or make it yourself by pulsing granulated sugar in a blender or food processor until the crystals are very fine, about half the size they originally were.For best results, use good-quality chocolate chips. In the U.S., the extra-dark Guittard chips work well. In France (and in Europe), Cacao-Barry makes chocolate chips, although they're smaller than the larger American chips. (They're available at G. Detou in Paris.) Supermarket-style chocolate chips are formulated not to melt when baked, so they may be of interest to you if you like those slightly toothsome chunks of chips in your cookies, but you can use hand-chopped chocolate chunks, in place of them.
- 8 ounces (225g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) superfine sugar, (see headnote)
- 1/2 cup (100g) firmly-packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons (45g) water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups (245g) flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt or kosher salt, (if using Morton's kosher salt, use 3/4 teaspoon)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups (280g, 10 ounces) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or by hand with a wooden spoon or spatula in a bowl, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and creamy, about 5 minutes.
Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, reaching down to the bottom of the mixer bowl. Beat in the egg, WATER, and vanilla.
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add the chocolate chips, and toss in the flour mixture. With the mixer on low speed, stir in the flour and chocolate chip mixture until thoroughly combined. Cover the bowl (or transfer to a smaller container, and cover) and refrigerate the dough at least 3 to 4 hours, or overnight.
To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the dough, formed in 1 1/4-inch (1/4 cup, 45g) balls on the baking sheet, spaced at least 3-inches (8cm) apart. (They will spread, so expect to get 5 or 6 on a standard baking sheet.) Press the cookies down slightly with your hand and bake until the cookies have spread and just until there are no light patches across the center, rotating the baking sheet(s) midway during baking so they bake evenly. They'll take about 13-14 minutes, but best to check the cookies a few minutes before and use the visual clues, rather than adhere to strict baking time, to get them just right.
Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.
Notes
Storage: The dough can be refrigerated up to four days, or frozen for up to three months. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to three days but are best the day they are baked.
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