Recipe Update: Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies

As I have written The Cilantropist over the last year, there are some recipes that I get from cookbooks or magazines and I put my own spin on them; however, as I become more inspired by the 'hows and whys' behind cooking, I find myself working to develop my own recipes based on basic techniques and principles of flavor.  I feel more confident completely re-vamping a published recipe, or simply starting from scratch and writing my own recipes.  What does that really mean?  These days, I spend a great deal of my kitchen time with recipe testing.  I think it is important to perfect both new and old recipes, which is why I often go back and test recipes I have previously posted. 

Case in point: my recipe for Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies.   

Ever since I tried this recipe for the first time almost a year ago, I have not been able to make any other kind of chocolate chip cookie; I was so smitten, that I was able to overlook the slightly arduous NY Times recipe, that became an extremely arduous recipe when I tried to halve the ingredients.  Despite being difficult, I did cut the original measurements in half, posted them on this blog, and the recipe worked.  

But really... 

Who wants to measure out 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons flour?  Or 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar?  I like nice, round measurements, especially for a chocolate chip cookie that should bring me soothing, chocolatey comfort rather than stress.  I decided enough was enough and so this week I reworked the recipe to be easy-peasy. 

I had planned to try and change just a few of the measurements, and see how it went.  Admittedly, I wasn't sure I could come up with a recipe to rival the original and so I wasn't even going to tell you I was working on it (yes I know, sneaky sneaky).  But then plans changed when this cookie turned out to be fantastic, and I was so tickled pink that I just had to tell you all about it.  

Now I am sure Mr. Torres (or his battalion of pastry chefs and bakers) painstakingly concocted his heavenly chocolate chip cookie recipe and I am by no means saying my tweaks and changes make it the pinnacle of perfection.  Yet, it is amazing how just a little math and flexibility with ingredients can make the recipe substantially easier to follow, while still producing what I think is the best chocolate chip cookie.       

Now I have said it before and I will say it again: I am thick-and-chewy cookie kind of gal, so these confections are the stuff of my dreams.  This recipe results in a cookie with a little extra heft because of the inclusion of bread flour;  I mean look at it, this cookie has some serious height and a center that is soft and dense.  Not to mention, it is riddled with enough chocolate chips to satisfy even your strongest chocolate craving.      

So, now that I have fixed up the recipe to be all new and shiny for you, go ahead and check it out.  It will still be listed under Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip  Cookies, and I would highly recommend that you make these as soon as possible.  I promise it is super easy, so you have no excuse not to make them.  (As though you needed an excuse to make chocolate chip cookies anyway.)

Enjoy! 

And just so that you know, in the future (and also in the past) if I - make any minor recipe revisions/suggest ingredient substitutions/include extra instructions for freezing or canning - I will post those on The Cilantropist Facebook Page.  If there are any other major recipe changes like this one (especially to favorite recipes), I will devote a short post to keep you updated.   

Ringing in 2011 with a Top 10 list, and a Giveaway!

Happy New Year friends!  2010 has officially come to a close, and what a year it has been.  On the rollercoaster of life, this blog has been a consistent high point, and I get such happiness from sharing my love of food with each of you every day. Throughout this past year, I hope The Cilantropist has given you delicious recipes that helped you experience the simple joys of eating well and sharing good food with friends and family.  I have so many exciting ideas to share with you in 2011, and I can't wait to get started; I hope you will continue to pull up a comfy chair and follow along with me on my adventures.  

But first, lets take a little look back at 2010 and your favorite posts and recipes!  I chose the Top 10 based on pageviews, twitter, reader comments and emails; not surprisingly, many of the top posts were from Project Food Blog, where I made i my mission to put my very best food forward and improve the quality of my blog by leaps and bounds.  So, without further ado, here are the The Cilantropist's Top 10 post of 2011!    

1. The post where I shared my lunch menu for A Presidio Picnic, with Italian Pressed Sandwiches is by far the most viewed post on The Cilantropist.  The post includes a recipe for Sopressata and Provolone Italian Pressed Sandwiches, which I also made for a post-Project Food Blog Celebration, and is the most popular recipe with readers.  For the lunch, we also enjoyed Parmesan and Gruyere Cheese Straws from Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten, as well as Spiced Pear and Cranberry Pocket Pies.  The Pocket Pies were a huge hit as well, and I can't wait to make them this summer with peaches! 

Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook and Cookie Giveaway, and Tate's Cappuccino Shortbread

Guess what I have for you today??  A giveaway that includes not only delicious cookies to feed you for a day, but a great cookbook that you can use to bake your own cookies all year!  

The kind folks over at Tate's Bake Shop in the Hamptons, NY contacted me and asked if I would like to try out their cookies and receive a copy of their Bake Shop Cookbook plus a copy of the cookbook and a cookie gift pack for one of my lucky readers.  Of course I was interested!  I had heard of Tate's in passing, but never had the pleasure to try out their famous cookies.  Tate's Bake Shop features cakes, pies, crumbles, and of course their famous chocolate chip cookies, all of which are baked from the best natural ingredients.  Their baked goods have received numerous accolades such as Best Hamptons Bakery in 2010, and have been featured in major national publications.  

In a 50-brand taste test, Tate's chocolate chip cookie was voted #1! 

From chocolate chip, to oatmeal raisin and white chocolate macadamia nut, all Tate's cookies are the thin-and-crispy variety.  If you have ever made Thomas Keller's chocolate chip cookies, they remind me of those, although Tate's recipe seems more simple and easy.  I would be remiss if I didn't fess up and tell you that I usually prefer a thick-and-chewy chocolate chip cookie (much like the Jacques Torres recipe) but Tate's cookies still proved irresistible for me.  

Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies

Although I made these a few weeks ago now, I decided to post this today because I think it is the type of day where a good chocolate chip cookie is in order.  Today I feel sad, lonely, and tired.  Today is the kind of day where I just want to curl up with a blanket on a comfy couch, and not really talk about much.  Today I took my boyfriend to the airport to fly back to Norway.  Now lets be real here, I want you to eat this cookie, and love this cookie (because I did), so do not fear: I will not bemoan you with my feelings of depression or the fleeting, strange sensation that I get when I remember he isn't in the apartment anymore... No, no.  But suffice it to say, that today is definitely a chocolate-cookie-kind-of-day.   

Because a good chocolate cookie is warm and comforting; really, it is like the food incarnation of a big tight hug, where you never want to let go.  

I know you are waiting for me to say that this is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, and that I have been making it since childhood.  Because everyone has a go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe, right?  Well, I certainly remember making loads of cookies, and I think we used the Toll House Recipe.  To be honest though, I have my fondest memories of heading down to the freezer in our basement, and sneaking prepared cookie-dough that we had gotten from the store.  There was a big tub of it in the freezer, which was perfect for sly snacking.  

(If you ask my mom, she will tell you a story about when I came up from the basement one morning - yes I was eating cookie dough in the morning - and she accused me of having my hand in the cookie "jar."  Of course, I denied it up and down like a good little girl.  I thought I had gotten away with the crime until she pointed out a piece of dough that had gone awry and affixed itself to the front of my shirt.  Ah, caught red-handed, moms notice everything!)