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“Life is short. Eat dessert first. ” – Jacques Torres
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You can tell something’s going to be good when you start with three sticks of butter. I did a double-take when I saw the recipe. Three sticks? Really? Ok! I couldn’t help but feel more than a little guilty as I swooped my finger into the mixing bowl to snatch taste after taste of raw dough.
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My first experience with Jacques Torres’s cookies was in New York at Chelsea Market. As I walked down the building’s long corridor, I nibbled (ok, devoured) the massive baked good. With only crumbs in my hands and streaks of chocolate on my fingers, I was pretty certain that I had struck gold. The ultimate chocolate chip cookie.
I must be honest with you, my dear readers. These cookies are just as good as they look. Slightly crunchy on the outside with a chewy inside. Loaded with chocolate. They’re so delicious, that I just went into the other room to do some crunches so that I could feel a little better about myself (unfortunately, it didn’t work).
Bake at your own risk.
Jacques Torres’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
(from One Sweet Cookie by Tracey Zabar via Serious Eats)
makes about 36 large cookies
Ingredients
4 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
12 ounces (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ¼ cups packed light brown sugar
1 ¼ cups plus 2 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1⅔ pounds bittersweet chocolate, chopped into bite-size pieces
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Have ready four nonstick half-sheet pans, or line four regular half-sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone mats.
2. In a bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, and set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until very light and fluffy. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar, and beat until well blended. Add the eggs and beat just until incorporated. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture a little at a time, beating after each addition until incorporated. When all of the flour mixture has been incorporated, remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a silicone spatula, fold in the chocolate.
4. To shape the cookies, using a tablespoon, scoop out heaping spoonfuls of the dough and, using the palms of your hands, form them into 3-inch balls. Place the balls on the prepared pans, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven, transfer the cookies to wire racks, and let cool completely.
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So I guess it is better to bake half of the given portion
They do look very good..
I suddenly have a craving for chocolate chip cookies! Lots and lots of chocolate chip cookies.
Excuse me while I pass out from delicious overload. These are amazing.
I love those cookies Brian, and honestly I could have just sat down with that bowl of cookie dough……sigh
These look perfect – I can’t wait to make them…many thanks!
Double take. I just finished dinner and could go for more of these than I’d care to admit. A whole stack with a big old glass of milk. I guess my chocolate chip cookie cravings are back on.
My family LOVES these! Besides the incredible taste and texture, they are HUGE
Beautifully done~
Oh, yum. I must make. I could eat a dozen of these!!
I love your stack of cookies, love how they are flat and sit perfectly one on top of the other! Gorgeous!
Of course Jacques Torres would use three sticks of butter in is most famous cookie recipe! HOORAY FOR BUTTER!
Mmm, these look absolutely fabulous!! Must try these cookies!
Butter and chocolate and you. Yes, pretty amazing. I wish I could share one of these with you right now. We’re having a lovely time in Austin with a good friend from college, and I’ve been thinking of you as we’ve sampled some of Austin’s very best food. Which means you need to come down here SOON.
Now I am craving cookies before bedtime. To bake or not to bake:) How about you just share your cookies with me!
These look absolutely perfect!! Awesome job!
When a baked good recipes contains three sticks of butter you know it HAS to be amazing. Otherwise no one would ever make it because it just wouldn’t be worth the indulgence. But these…look so worth it. I was planning on baking cookies for my boyfriend to help him get through the final legs of studying for the bar…and these look ideal.
These look delicious. One more chocolate chip cookie recipie I’ll have to try.
Three sticks of butter intrigue me. And I love the way you chopped the chocolate. Will have to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing. Lovely pictures (as always!).
ohhhh my GOODNESS yum!! I’m under a cookie spell as we speak, these look incredible. Must – make – soon.
Great recipe <3
Wow… These look absolutely fabulous! Can’t wait to give the recipe a try.
The cookies look wonderful.
Not all chocolate chip cookies are created equal! These look like they belong in an echelon of their own.
these look absolutely perfect, but what else should I expect from him, right? Beautiful.
Oh oh oh, Brian that’s exactly how I like my chocolate chip cookies–thin and chewy!
Clearly I need these in my life!
I for sure wouldn’t stop eating them until they are all gone! Scrumptious!
Just came across your blog via sprouted kitchen, so glad I did. Jacques Torres cookies are awesome, I work right next to a location on hudson
Thanks for the recipe!!
They look wonderful but I couldn’t see all the ingredients in order to try. Mary V.
These cookies look perfect! Can’t wait to try them out. Just wondering if you have measurements of the flour by weight (grams if possible). I have tried using online conversion for volume to weight measurements but it never turns out that well.
“bake at your own risk”…thanks for the much needed warning!
Quick question… somewhere else I read that using the dragées actually provides the best result (even better than chopped chocolate). What’s your thoughts on that?
LOVE me a fabulous chocolate chip cookie!! These look amazing Brian……oh and FYI, I just got home from NYC, I was in Chelsea Market just yesterday – love that place!
Yup this would do it for me right about now. Love chocolate chip cookies and we bake them too often here. These look great!
Looks so good, Brian!! I need to get my mixer out and make some cookie dough, it’s happening this weekend!
Cookies have never been a favorite for me to put on my blog. One reason. Altitude. No not attitude…altitude. They may taste fine but they just don’t measure up in the looks department. But I think I maybe have FINALLY found the answer so I’m eager to do more and take photos. These are on my list!
A secret weakness of mine is just this: amazing chocolate chip cookies! Crispy on outside and soft on inside is how I like my choco chip cookies. These look fantastic and I will close my eyes as I add the 3 sticks of butter to the bowl;)
I was just looking for a chocolate chip cookie recipe to make for my new neighbors to bribe them into liking me… I think three sticks of butter and a storm of chocolate shards should do the trick. Thanks!
Mmmnnnn. . . I LOVES me some Chocolate Chips, especially when they are in cookies that I get to eat. . .
y ¿cómo es que no comí nada?
I have been wanting to try this recipe for awhile now. They look like cookie perfection!
These do sound and look so good, but what I really want is your bowl.
Love it.
Oh my.. so glad to find this recipe! I remember 15 years ago watching Jacques Torres’ show Dessert Circus. It was on local public tv. I fell in love.. with baking that is.
But it has been wonderful watching his career take off. I’m sure I’ll love this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
You are my hero. I remember the day that I first tried this cookie. It was almost 4 years ago. And I STILL think about it all the time! I’ve never had much success at finding a suitable recipe to mimic Jacque Torres famous chocolate chip cookies, but these look just about right! I am definitely going to try this recipe! Thank you!
The Torres cookies are infamous on the web. I can see why they get so much attention. Of course everything in your lens is beautiful. GREG
I absolutely LOVE these cookies!! I have tried a number of chocolate chip cookie recipes and they don’t hold a shade to this one! I took them into work and they were so good I got an encore request! And since I am a student on a budget I just used regular semi-sweet chocolate chips and they still turn out amazing! Thanks for the recipe.
You’re a doll, Greg! Thank you! And, yes, the cookies do deserve the attention