Comments on: The New York Times chocolate chip cookies: smarter cookies?

By: elizabeth

elizabeth — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:23:16 +0000

i lovee cookiess.♥♥♥ ilyy adrienne.we bff’s 4eva

By: adrienne

adrienne — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:21:54 +0000

they were good.im doin my science fair project on them.♥

By: Maria

Maria — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:59:59 +0000

A few days after I read this article, I was perusing Shirley O. Corriher’s book “BakeWise” and found an answer to the vinegar conundrum (brilliant book by the way, I highly recommend it for all bakers). In it she says “An acid batter speeds up the cooking of the proteins and the setting of dough.” For cookies, “…this faster setting of the dough helps limit how much the cookies spread.” She goes on to say that baking soda neutralizes the acidity, thereby slowing the setting of the cookies. Baking powder, on the other hand, does not influence the dough’s acidity. I’m guessing the vinegar is added to the KA recipe to combat the fact that those cookies are on the thin side already. Just a guess. Hope this helps someone out!

Thanks, Maria - I learn something new all the time. Actually, I added the vinegar to cut the sweetness just a tad, and to react with the leavening to add a tiny bit more pop - to yield crunchy rather than hard cookies. But if it keeps them from spreading too much, too, so much the better! PJH

By: edie

edie — Thu, 28 May 2009 04:26:18 +0000

I finally got around to making these cookies and as all these comments attest-they are awesome! Instantly dubbed favorites by husband and son.I followed the NY Times recipe and wondered is there an optimal amount of time to let the refrigerated dough sit at room temperature to make it scoopable? I had mine in a metal mixing bowl 24 hrs. and had to have my son do the early scoops until it warmed up. First time he worked for his cookies!

Well, you can always continue to make your son work! I’d let the dough sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or so for easiest scoopability. Also, if you put it in a wide/shallow bowl rather than a deep/narrow one, it chills faster and warms up faster… PJH

By: Kimberly D

Kimberly D — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:02:55 +0000

I baked CCC’s in a eatery I worked in and to flatten them out we “dropped” the fresh out of the oven cookie sheet onto the counter, this flattened them out. Also we had to turn all the chips to face up to make them look more appealing to the customers, really if some got missed doing this they would be the last ones to sell. We also kept the cookie dough in the freezer till we needed it, than moved it to the refrigerator to bake them.

By: Dana Blumenthal

Dana Blumenthal — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:56:42 +0000

I will try this recipe and hopefully will get the results you write about. In the past, I have tried various recipes for these cookies and have been disappointed because the dough does not spread out while baking and the texture of the finished product does not have that crisp exterior with a chewy/soft middle. What am I doing wrong?

And yes, salt not only enhances chocolate flavor, it is good in molasses/ginger cookies too — really brings out the flavor!

Dana, have you used the shortening/butter combination in the past? Butter adds spread, shortening adds crisp/crunchiness… I just pulled these cookies out of the oven, and they spread beautifully. I think if you follow the recipe exactly, with no substitutions, these should do well for you. Good luck - PJH

By: Jackie L.

Jackie L. — Fri, 08 May 2009 03:33:53 +0000

I enjoy your blogs so very much, it almost makes me want to bake again. The salt on the tops was suprising and also not. One of the best cookies I used to bake were regular peonut butter cookies with three salted peonut halves on the top. (The old fashioned type of oil roasted peanuts, not the dry roasted ones.) Also almond toffee type candy with a little salt on the top is very good.
Keep up all the delicious work!

Thanks, Jackie - I do love that salty/sweet combo. IN fact, I have some of this very cookie dough in the fridge, ready to bake tomorrow morning - with a tiny, tiny pinch of extra-fine salt on top… I’ll have to try the salted peanuts on PB cookies - which, coincidentally, I just made this evening for a photo shoot. Darn, wish I’d read this comment earlier! PJH

By: path

path — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:58:30 +0000

In my small world, chocolate chip cookie dough is just something to hold the walnuts together. And the best recipe I ever used called for the mini chips and may have used only shortening. Since it was on the back of the chip package, which I lost in one of my moves, I can’t be sure. I’ve been hesitant to just substitute, since shortening vs butter may need different amounts. Any advice on that?

You use less shortening than butter, since shortening is a higher percentage of fat. I kind of wing it when making the substitution - like, if the recipe calls for a stick of butter, I’d probably use 6 tablespoons of shortening… PJH

By: Dee Skott

Dee Skott — Thu, 07 May 2009 21:35:26 +0000

I did a blind taste test with my standard chocolate cookie recipe. The only difference was chilling the batter overnight. It was amazing! Everyone preferred the chilled dough cookies the best. I also find it makes it so much easier. Mix one night, bake the next!

Yes, I have dough chilling right now… YUM! Thanks for chiming in, Dee - PJH

By: Leigh

Leigh — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:01:04 +0000

A comment on why the NY Times recipe uses a mix of bread and cake flours. One reason is to achieve greater consistency, which is critical for commercial baking and nice for home baking as well. All-purpose flour has a protein content (think “chewiness”) that varies by up to 50%, even for the same brand. Protein content is dictated both by where the flour is made and by whether it is bleached. On average, this is 7.5-9.5% for Southern flour vs 11-12% for Northern flour. In addition to the more precisely defined protein content achieved by mixing cake and bread flour, cake flour exhibits unique properties that cannot be duplicated by all-purpose flour. Cake flour is bleached by chlorination rather than bromination. Chlorination reduces gluten activity (leading to a tenderer, less chewy result without reducing the actual protein level), slightly acidifies the flour (unsure if the acidity is sufficient to assist the baking soda), and increases the flour’s ability to hold liquid and to distribute fat evenly. In the NY Times recipe, the flour would be penetrated by moisture more completely and evenly using the mixture of two flours than by using all-purpose flour alone. Cake flour also sets faster in the oven and so changes the texture for a given cooking time.

Some brands of flour can vary considerably in the protein content. However, King Arthur flour has the narrowest specifications in the industry, and varies less than a tenth of a percentage point bag after bag, batch after batch. If you buy our all-purpose flour that’s 11.7% protein, that’s what you get: 11.7%. Our bread flour is 12.7%. The organic all-purpose is 11.8% and the organic bread flour is 12.7%.Mary @KingArthur Flour