What’s my favorite chocolate chip cookie, you ask? It’s from Jacques Torres Chocolate in New York City. Ask for it warmed and it’s heavenly. Crispy on the edges, chewy in the middle, and most importantly, with delicious melty puddles of chocolate. Sadly, I’m not in NYC often enough to get my fix, so, luckily, there is a recipe. To celebrate National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, I decided to test it out.
I was especially excited to try the recipe because Chef Jacques has been such an inspiration. Excuse me, while I fan-girl for a moment. Growing up, I baked with boxed mixes. It wasn’t until I watched Jacques’ Food Network shows, did I realize that there was so much more to dessert! On “Passion for Pastry” he did the most amazing sugar work (I remember a swan sculpture) and on “Chocolate with Jacques Torres”, the molds, acetate designs and spray gun were the coolest toys I had ever seen. He also used a tempering machine, which I still covet it to this day. Fast forward about 10 years and now I’m a complete pastry nerd. So, thank you, chef.
Back to the recipe! Get it here from NY Times: Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies
The cookies were a success. I scooped 24 cookies and made trays of 6. Each batch came out exactly the same. No inconsistencies. I ate one from each batch (quality control, right?) and, each one, perfect. Below are my tips for getting them right every time.
- It’s all about the chocolate. Jacques calls for chocolate discs. They melt into the dough creating a rippling effect. Get good quality chocolate. There is A LOT in this recipe so you want to use something you enjoy as eating chocolate. It may look like too much when you’re incorporating it into the dough, but the cookies spread as they bake and the chocolate blends in. It’s about 50/50 cookie to chocolate ratio. If you want a bit more cookie, you can probably decrease by 1/4 pound and still make a great marbly cookie.
- Let the dough rest for at least 24 hours. This is probably not the best recipe if you have a sudden craving, but I promise it’s worth it. The time in the fridge allows the flavors to develop. I left the dough in the refrigerator for 72 hours. I can’t say if the extra time made a difference but it didn’t hurt.
- Use an ice cream scoop. It makes it easy to portion out the cookies and have them be uniform in size. I even when as far as weighing each dough ball. I used a 2.25″ diameter scoop and formed 3 ounce dough balls, resulting in 24 cookies.
- Don’t overbake. I kept an eye on the cookies at the 15-minute mark to see if they’ve become golden on the edges. The recipe states 18-20 minutes so on the lower end, they’ll be a bit softer in the center, and closer to 20 minutes, it will be a bit chewier. Either way it will look a little bit underdone in the middle, and that is exactly what you want. The cookies will continue to bake, while cooling on the pan. I recommend baking a tray of 6 first to see how you like them, then adjust accordingly for the next batch.
Did you make these cookies? Show me on Instagram @pastrywithjenn!
August 8, 2017
I have made these cookies many times and they are always a hit plus it’s my husband’s favorite cookie. How did you mix in the chocolate discs without the mixer breaking them? I end up forming it by hand to keep the discs intact which is time consuming. Ditto for scooping without breaking the discs. Thank you.
August 18, 2017
I folded the discs in by hand to make sure they didn’t break. I also didn’t really fully incorporate them. When I scooped, I just made sure each ball looked like it had a decent number of discs in them.
August 26, 2017
Hi Jenn,
Can I use chocolate chunks instead? I can slice it a bit thinner. Somebody gave me several bars of chocolate and I want to use it for baking cookies. I am on the look one for the best choco chip cookie recipe. 🙂
September 27, 2017
Yes you can use chocolate chunks but they may not melt into the cookie as much as the discs. Try to find ones that don’t have too many additives, because like chocolate chips, they have things added to keep the shape.
September 28, 2017
Where is the recipe please? X
October 13, 2017
did you flatten ur cookies before baking? Mine does not spread during baking
December 17, 2017
I did not flatten them. Though I noticed mine were a little more domed than his.
Did yours spread at all?
December 17, 2017
The recipe was printed in NY Times here: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015819-chocolate-chip-cookies Happy baking!
March 7, 2018
Hi! Thanks for the recipe. I have no idea why but I have a terrible time with CC cookies. I made these but they didnt flatten out at all. So they were these giant domed muffin biscuit things. Its not you, its me. I’ve never had luck with any cc recipes. Im great with macarons, complex cakes, meringues, etc… but the cc baffles me. Im what I called “CC disabled”.
January 19, 2021
What did you think about the mix of two flours? It seems weird so mix high protein flour and really low protein flour, seems like the overall protein would be about the same as all purpose. Do you think the finer grind of the cake flour is really worth it?
February 18, 2025
Mine never truly flattened as much as Jacques’ cookies. I did press down on the cookie dough balls to encourage them to spread more, but again, never as thin as what he sells as his shops. I’m a little stumped myself!
February 18, 2025
I haven’t done a test to compare, but would be curious to see what it would be like to just swap for AP for both flours.