Mini Martha is back with the perfect chocolate chip cookies!

I've been making chocolate chip cookies since I was about eight, but it wasn't until more recently that I started taking them seriously. My favorite type of cookie is thick, chewy, soft, gooey, warm, and with a bit of sea salt and melted chocolate. Lately I've been making a batch every week––and I think I've figured out what it takes to make the perfect chocolate chip cookie. (One trick, for example, is not to overbeat the sugars, butter or flour, as it'll give you a tough cookie.) So I've adapted a recipe from Jacques Torres, and I think these cookies meet all of the qualifications.

But before we begin, here are a couple of tips.

1. Use good-quality chocolate of different varieties. The milk chocolate and dark chocolate are nice compliments of sweetness and bitterness in the cookie. I like Valrhona milk chocolate disks, Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips, and organic dark chocolate chunks. (Semisweet is necessary, because that's what's in the original recipe.)

2. Use different types of flour. A mixture of bread flour and all-purpose flour makes for a chewier cookie than just using all-purpose.

3. Substitute some flour for cornstarch. The cornstarch gives the cookie a smoother texture.

4. Leave the cookies to cool on the pan. Moving cookies to a cooling rack flattens them out. Keep them on the pan for them to remain big and chewy.

5. Refrigerate the dough before baking. The flavors meld together and mellow out when the dough is sitting. Plus, the butter mixes with the flour so that the cookies will spread out less. The cold also keeps the butter cool, and makes for a thicker cookie when it comes out of the oven.

6. Use more dark brown sugar than white. It makes the cookie chewier.

7. Use more egg yolks. They help the cookie stay together, remaining thick, instead of flattening out.
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Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 2/3 cups of bread flour
¼ cup of cornstarch
1 ¼ teaspoons of baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
¾ teaspoon of coarse sea salt (plus more for sprinkling)
¾ teaspoon of kosher salt
2 ½ sticks of unsalted butter
1 ½ cups of dark brown sugar
3/4 cup of white sugar
2 large eggs and 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract heaping
1/2 cup-3/4cup of valrhona milk chocolate disks broken in half heaping
1/2cup-3/4cup of organic dark chocolate chunks
1-1 1/2 cups of ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips

Directions: 

1. Put all of the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.

2. Soften the butter and put in a bowl, add brown sugar and white sugar. Mix on medium speed for two minutes. Add eggs and egg yolk one at a time until thoroughly combined. Add the vanilla extract mix again.

3. Slowly add in the dry ingredients, but be careful not to over mix. When combined, add in chocolate chips and continue to mix until the chips are dispersed throughout the batter.

4. Wrap up the dough in plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees when ready to bake. Make large cookies (about a ¼ cup in size). And place on a parchment-lined sheet. Sprinkle the cookies with a little coarse sea salt. Place in the oven for around 16 minutes until chewy, but browned on the edges. Take out of oven and let sit on sheet tray for a minute or two. Take off the pan and enjoy while hot!

FILED UNDER: just eat it , paris starn , mini martha , recipes