Recipe #3 - Tollhouse

Intro

My brother challenged me to bake my way through the New York Times Top 11 Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes, mostly so maybe I would send him some to “taste-test.”

And why not?

I printed all the recipes, scanned the ingredients and spent about $60 on the stuff I did not have, like cake flour and coconut sugar - not including the cookie scoop that I have always wanted and finally bought. I did not buy any super special ingredients. No chocolate feves, no Maldon salt.

The Recipe

I was reminded why I never make this classic chocolate chip cookie recipe - and it’s because there are so many better recipes out there. Sorry, Nestle.

The butter: flour ratio is seriously off here, so you get an overly buttery (strange but true) cookie that, made with no adjustments, spreads so much it loses all texture.

One way to save it - refrigerate the dough. I made two trays according to the directions, baking one for 10 minutes (which resulted in an overly browned cookie) and one for about 9 minutes (which ended up under baked). I put the rest of the dough in the fridge for a few hours, and made the rest. They still spread, but not quite as much. I suspect keeping the dough in the fridge overnight might work even better.

If I were to make them again (doubtful), I would probably use pastry flour and increase the amount a bit.

Of the three recipes so far, this was the last favorite.

The Reviews

Me: Ugh. These are so buttery they are almost greasy. I never make these - too much butter, inconsistent browning, unattractive cookie overall.

Son: I still like the first cookie the best.

Husband: Weakest of the three.