Cookies

Saveur’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

In the October issue of Saveur magazine, contributor Sarah Copeland writes: “The beauty of making classic Toll House cookies is discovering how malleable the recipe can be. Once I’d learned that layering sheets of butter into dough makes puff pastry irresistibly flaky and rich, I resolved to create a chocolate chip cookie with equal textural appeal. I tried layering pieces of chocolate into cookie dough in a similar style, and I was delighted with the results: crisp around the edges, moist and tender inside, and so marbled that every bite contained the consummate balance of sweet dough, melting bittersweet chocolate and crystalline salt.”

2 1/4 cups flour, plus extra for rolling dough

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 egg yolks

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1 egg, beaten (optional)

Sea salt (optional)

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.

In a bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high speed, combine butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add yolks, two at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

Transfer dough to a work surface and divide into three equal pieces. Flatten each piece into a 4- by 6-inch rectangle; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly flour a work surface. Place one dough rectangle on prepared work surface and sprinkle with half the chocolate. Top with another rectangle, sprinkle remaining chocolate and cover with last rectangle.

Using a floured rolling pin, flatten stacked rectangles into a 6- by 9-inch rectangle that is 1 1/2 inches thick. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut out cookies and transfer to prepared baking sheets, spacing cookies 3 inches apart. Gather scraps, re-roll into a 11/2-inch thick disk and cut out more cookies, repeating until no dough remains. (At this point, you can brush the tops of the cookies with a beaten egg, and sprinkle a few grains of sea salt on each cookie.)

Bake, rotating baking sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and set, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven, cool 2 minutes and then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 24 cookies.

Per cookie: 230 calories, 12 g fat (7 g saturated), 100 mg sodium, 28 g carbohydrates, 3 g protein, 50 mg cholesterol, 2 fiber.