<![CDATA[Pages in my passport - Monster Chocolate Chip Cookies]]>

This is the chocolate chip cookie recipe that The New York Times made so incredibly popular. This is a monster of a cookie. It's recommended to weigh out 3 ounces of dough per cookie and has 4 bars of chocolate in the dough (or 1 pound). They are thick and a bit cakey. Crip on the outside and chewy on the inside with giant chunks of bittersweet chocolate.
The pinch of flakey sea salt is mandatory.
This recipe calls for equal parts of cake flour and bread flour.
Make sure to make these at least a day before you bake them because they need to be refrigerated for at least 24 hours.
Oh, and you better have a scale to weigh your ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

Yield: 1½ dozen 5-inch cookies

8½ ounces/241 grams cake flour
8½ ounces/241 grams bread flour
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons coarse salt
2½ sticks unsalted butter/284 grams
10 ounces/284 grams light brown sugar
8 ounces/227 grams granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 pound (500 grams) bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content or 4 bars of Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet chocolate. (you could also use the 1 pound chocolate bars from trader joes. During the Holidays they have a milk chocolate bar with caramel, pretzels bits & sea salt that is epic in this recipe)
Flaky sea salt

PREPARATION

Step 1
Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

Step 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. I had to dump my dough onto the counter and mix it by hand because the dough was fairly dry. Just don't over mix.
Weigh 3 ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls). Place dough balls into a ziploc baggie or in Tupperware and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

Step 3
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

Step 4
Place 6 dough balls onto baking sheet, these will spread out and you don't want them running into each other. Bake until golden brown but still soft, 16 to 17 minutes. When you pull the tray out of the oven, slam it once on the counter.

Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 5 minutes, then sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt (like Maldon sea salt)
After 5 minutes, place the cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more.
Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve the dough in the refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day.
Don't leave the uncooked cookie dough in the refrigerator for more than 72 hours. The dough will dry out. Place them in the freezer.
Eat warm.