Adding My Voice to the Chorus

I’m fully aware that this post is not adding anything new to the food-blogosphere. Chances are pretty good that you have already tried this recipe. Chances are even better that you have at least clipped/printed/bookmarked the recipe. Heck, you might even have a bowl of the dough chilling in your fridge for the requisite 24-plus hours right this minute (and if so, I applaud you for reading this post instead of, say, sneaking under the plastic wrap for a quick bite; really: you are a god/dess of will power). Yes, I am talking about the already-famous chocolate chip cookie recipe that accompanied David Leite‘s New York Times article just a couple Dining sections ago.

I saw the article myself, during a study break the Wednesday it ran. I noted it and mentally added it to my post-bar-exam to do list (which is growing at an alarming rate). The article was then forwarded to me in emails from two friends. Next, it began cropping up in blog posts. The recipe was practically whispering in my ear, pleading: I am worthy of your pre-bar exam time. In the end, the seduction was too great. I couldn’t resist.

(Click “more” for the rest of the story, more photos & the recipe.)

And, to be honest, even though I couldn’t hold off on baking the cookies, I had no intentions of posting on them. As I’ve said, there’s plenty out there already: Leite’s article itself and also this and this and this. But after one buttery, bendy, chocolate-studded bite, I knew I had to add my voice to the chorus. These cookies are worth the fawning, the superlatives and even the countless bites of dough I sampled (seriously: 24 hours in the fridge? Is that some kind of torture?). They checked all the important chocolate chip cookie boxes: texture (a crisp perimeter fading softly into the pliable center); cookie-to-chocolate ratio (generous); shape (homespun; never-too-perfect). But they also added something new: a briny pop of sea salt sprinkled, pre-baking, on top of the cookies, which added interest and cut the cookies’ richness. In short, bake them. Now. Or, 24 hours from now, I suppose.

Click here for the recipe. My only change was to use Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips. I also tried making smaller (tablespoon-sized scoops) sized cookies, but the larger ones called for in the recipe were a clear winner in the texture department.