Chocolate Chip Cookie Bake-Off: Alice’s Recipe vs. NYT

Well, I kind of missed March for this. Sort of. I had the post ready to go, but it just didn’t seem right to post it up on Easter Sunday, so I kept it waiting until Monday. In fact, I like that idea. From now on, chocolate chip cookie bake-offs on the first of every month! In case you’re new to this bake-off, you can find the original rules here.

The contender this month, to the ever champion New York Times (NYT) recipe (pictured on the right), was a recipe that I saw across several blogs a few years ago – this recipe from Alice of Savory Sweet Life. The recipe Alice presents comes with a pretty fierce backing of her recipe, and I can tell you that her cookies were definitely well received by my coworkers. Including the oddest and likely most honest complement I’ve ever received on my baking, “These cookies have the perfect balance of salt.” Different, but as long as you’re enjoying them, I’ll take it 🙂

 

One thing I noted was that Alice’s cookies have pretty specific instructions. By the time the eggs and vanilla have been added to the dough, it has been going in the mixer for 5 minutes and definitely results in a “fluffier” cookie dough. I did vary from the recipe slightly in the amount of flour listed. I originally added the amount of flour listed in the recipe (by weight – exactly 12 oz), but my dough was definitely still too gooey to hold together a cookie when baking. I added more flour, probably almost another 1/4 cup (although I didn’t measure exactly) to help the dough a little, and I am thinking they almost needed a little bit more as my cookies baked up rather flat. My guess is that this is due to the extended beating time as that is definitely longer than I leave most cookie dough in the mixer. While flat, the texture of the cookies was still the gold standard – crunchy on the edges and rather soft in the middle.

So which recipe will be continuing in our chocolate chip cookie bake-off. We’re still NYT fan’s in this house. It’s the flavor that develops while the dough sits that seems to be what boosts these over other cookies. While I really like the NYT recipe, I tend to like my cookies a little thicker (tends to be chewier). The NYT cookies aren’t super thin, although I have definitely seen heftier cookies. This may be the place for another recipe to beat the NYT for me. Thinking I may need to try a recipe with either brown butter and/or dark brown sugar next time to see if we can get an even match on the flavor. We’ll see!

Cookies Already Baked:
New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
Levain Bakery Copycat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Baking Illustrated Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

Some of the Cookies Still On Deck:
Alton Brown’s The Chewy
My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies from Eat, Live, Run
David Lebovitz’s Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Doughmesstic My Go To Chocolate Chip Cookie
Flour Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
Bouchon Bakery’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
Top Chef: Just Desserts Chocolate Chip Cookie

Any cookies I should add to the list? Here’s the recipe for Alice’s recipe.

(Printable Recipe)

Alice’s The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Savory Sweet Life

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2-3/4 cup (or 12 oz) all-purpose flour (I needed more than this)
3/4 tsp. medium course sea salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 pkg. each milk and semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars together with a stand mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes until light and very fluffy. Add both eggs and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Add baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour stirring until the flour is fully incorporated. Add more flour if needed to be able to form the dough into balls with your hands. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Bake on stoneware pans or on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper for about 12 minutes or until the cookies are set on the outer edges. Cool on the pan for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.