Chocolate Chunk Cookies

This recipe is based on Chocolate Chunk Cookies by J. Kenji López-Alt.

Note: If you’re using a 5 quart stand-mixer, you can not double this recipe because it won’t fit.

• Put the chocolate bars in a ziplock bag and smash with the implement of your choice into 1/2- to 1/4-inch chunks
• Melt the butter in an 8″ pan over medium-high heat. Whisk slowly while the butter melts. Once it’s melted, continue whisking slowly as it bubbles and foams. Watch very carefully as the foaming slows. This means the water is mostly gone and things happen quickly at this point.
• Continue whisking and watch as the liquid butter – not the foam on top – darkens.
• When it looks “lightly toast colored,” and brown bits start to appear in the liquid, take it off the heat and whisk another 15 seconds. Pour into a metal bowl, add the ice and stir until the ice is melted. Cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer until the butter is completely solid.
• Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
• Put the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in the mixer with the whisk and whisk on medium-high speed until it forms thick ribbons when you pull the whisk out. This should take about 5 minutes, but might take a little longer. If you don’t get thick ribbons, keep whisking.
• Put the paddle on the mixer and add the solid browned butter from the refrigerator and the brown sugar, and mix on medium for about 15 seconds. Mix just until combined.
• Add the flour/salt/baking soda mixture to the mixer and mix on low speed about 10 seconds or until just combined.
• Add the chocolate chunks and mix on low for a few seconds to combine.
• Put the mixture in a Ziploc, squeeze out all the air, seal and refrigerate 1 – 3 days – This part is really important. Sitting in the refrigerator greatly improves the texture and flavor.

Baking Directions:

• Preheat oven at 325°F (convection, if you have it). Make sure there’s enough space between the oven racks for good air circulation.
• Line the baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Dump the chilled, rested dough out on to a cutting board and break it up into small chunks with your sturdy knife. A lot of recipies recommend a small scoop, but having broken several I can tell you the knife works much better.
• Make small blobs of dough about the size of a golf ball and put 8 on each baking sheet. They should not be perfectly smooth and round. The “imperfections” make the edges interesting and crispier.
• Put the sheet pans in the oven and bake until the edges are golden. This is about 12 minutes in my oven. Yours is probably different.
• When baked, remove the sheet pan, and put the parchment paper with the cookies on the counter to cool.
• Let the sheet pan cool off. If you leave the cookies on the sheet pan, they’ll bake too much while the pan is cooling.
• When you’re ready to bake the next batch, use a cool cookie sheet. A hot or warm cookie sheet makes the dough melt before baking and will give you poor results.

• Buy bars of really good chocolate, not chips or morsels. The chips are coated with something to make them not clump in the bag and don’t work well. HErshey’s Special Dark chocolate works well. It’s not too sweet or too bitter.
• Refrigerating the mix for at least a day is necessary. It really improves the flavor.