Mad Hatter Chocolate Chip Cookies

What originally started out as a recipe for Alice Medrich's chocolate chunk cookies quickly began morph into a smorgasbord of past chocolate chip cookie posts. Crazy thoughts of nutty brown butter, a liberation from the tyranny of Queen Vanilla, and an insane 48 hour sentence of solitary in the refrigerator, All popped into my head. It made things deliciously complicated yet masochistically difficult at the same time (it's not easy to ignore a bowl of cookie dough for over a day, every time you grab some milk or yogurt.) But it was all so worth it.


Imagine all your favourite chocolate chip cookies combined into one version. These have it all: The deep, rich character of brown butter, a subtle caramel flavour and ideal texture that only be achieved through an agonizingly long chill time, and the omition of vanilla extract which prevents the last two factors from being eclipsed. They are soft and chewy with nicely domed centers. Checkmate, Jacques Torres.


Mad Hatter Chocolate Chip Cookies
(adapted from recipes by Alice Medrich, Thomas Keller, and Cook's Illustrated)

*printer friendly Recipe*

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
16 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces about the size of a tablespoon.
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup (packed) brown sugar, lump free
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2 cups of bittersweet chocolate chips
Sea salt for sprinkling

Method
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Once the butter is melted, increase the heat to medium and whisk constantly. The butter will foam up and then subside. Use you sense of smell. Once it takes on a nutty aroma, remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the granulated sugar and brown sugar. Whisk vigorously until well blended. Let the mixture rest of 3 minutes. Whisk again and let it rest again for another 3 minutes. Repeat this process once more (total of 3 times.) Mix in the egg. Stir in the flour mixture just until all of the dry ingredients are moistened. Let the mixture and the pan cool. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover well and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, preferably 48.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator to soften. Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough and place them 3 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Lightly sprinkle each cookie with sea salt. Bake for about 8 to 11 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown at the edges and no longer look wet on top. Remove from the oven and let cookies firm up on the pan for 1 to 2 minutes. Use a metal spatula to transfer them to rack to cool (they are amazing right out of the oven too.)

Makes about 5 dozen cookies