eclaire (what’s in a) name?

earlier this month, the new york times posted an article about the hunt for perfection in chocolate chip cookies. this article created a stir in the food blog world as everyone scrambled to make the recipe outlined in the new york times, critique it, and offer their own commentary about the best chocolate chip cookie.

i was planning on doing the same for you, dear readers, but every time i went to make the recipe from the ny times, my hands uncontrollably reached for my recipe box to get ahold of the card with my personal favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe instead.

this recipe came to my attention a few years ago, back when we were living with the fabulous k & b. k and i had a long conversation about what constitutes the best chocolate chip cookie after a batch of cookies we had made turned out flat and boring. we agreed (i think, you’ll have to remind me in the comments, k!) that the best cookie is soft in the middle, crispy on the edges, just a little bit chewy, and a little bit fluffy as well – all the things that my standard cookie recipe did not produce. so, on a whim, i typed “best chocolate chip cookie recipe” into google, and voila, my now-favorite recipe appeared, and it meets all my criteria. so once i can force myself to make the ny times version, i’ll update my blog but until then, try these – you will not be disappointed.

the beautiful thing about this recipe is that you can edit it anyway you like – i’ve tried substituting whole wheat pastry flour, adding 1/2c oats, adding lemon juice & cardamom while removing the chips, adding 1c walnuts, making them half sized, making them full size – and each experience created a beautiful, very different but delicious cookie – you just can’t go wrong with this base!

best chocolate chip cookies

yields 24 huge cookies, 36 medium cookies (pictured here on my blog), or 48 bite sized cookies
adapted from allrecipes.com

• 1c butter, softened
• 1c white sugar
• 1c packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2t vanilla extract
• 1t baking soda
• 2t hot water
• 1/2t salt
• 3c all purpose flour
• 2c semisweet chocolate chips
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1. preheat oven to 350º
2. cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth
3. beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla
4. dissolve the baking soda in hot water (i think this is the part that makes the cookies so fantastic), and add to batter along with salt
5. stir in flour and chocolate chips
6. drop by the spoonful onto ungreased pans
7. bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned (the middle will seem a little under-done, but they will firm up as they cool)
8. allow to cool completely in the pan and then enjoy!