by Katerina Kountakis, section editor

I come from a family where cooking is probably one of the most important things in life to learn. Unfortunately, I actually hate cooking and prefer to bake. I love sweets and have always had a sweet tooth, so it isn’t really a big surprise. One of the first things I learned to bake are cookies. My favorite cookie of all time is chocolate chip, so when looking for a recipe, I couldn’t just settle for the first one I saw. I wanted the cookies to be perfect. I got the recipe off of Pinterest and I have to say these cookies are hard to beat. The recipe rightly comes from the famous NYT chocolate chip cookie by Jacques Torres.

RECIPE FROM THE NYTIMES

Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

• 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
• 1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)
• Sea salt.

Directions:

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie.  Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Now I am going to go ahead and say that for the directions section, I don’t follow word for word. After step 3, I do my own thing that I have learned works well with cookies. I make small dough balls and place them on the cookie sheet. (You can make whatever size, it really doesn’t change anything.) Then I only cook them for 10 minutes until they are golden on the top. Sometimes it only takes 10 minutes for the cookies to get golden, sometimes 13 minutes, you just need to watch it. But after that, I then take the cookies out and let them continue cooking on the hot cookie sheet on the counter. This will help you get a nice golden cookie and still have it soft the next day.