In Search of The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie
I confess, I can not make a chocolate chip cookie. There, I said it! From my very first attempt, they have always turned out FLAT. I’m ashamed to admit the number of recipes I’ve tried through the years trying to achieve a cookie that is slightly thick, soft and chewy on the inside with light crisp crunch on the outside. I have even asked friends and acquaintances their secrets…”use the recipe on Butter Flavored Crisco,” “I just use the Toll House recipe,” “use real butter,” but with each and every attempt, my cookies turned out FLAT, FLAT, and FLAT!!!
A few years ago Alton Brown, host of Good Eats on Food Network, aired an episode devoted to the chocolate chip cookie. I was glued to the set, trying to discover the secret ingredient, or method to make the perfect cookie that has eluded me all these years. He very scientifically (as only Alton does) deconstructed the recipes to make The THIN (who needs that?????), The PUFFY, and The CHEWY chocolate chip cookie. Well, my husband couldn’t get to the printer fast enough to kindly get me the recipes (think he may have been trying to tell me something???). I would be thrilled to be able to make a Puffy, or Chewy chocolate chip cookie, anything other than Flat (or as some people call them, THIN). So you think with all this new found knowledge I would finally be able to make something other than a flat cookie? AAhhhrrrghh! New recipe…same result. Defeated, I finally decided to give up, and delegated any chocolate chip cookie baking to the kids. I just couldn’t go through with it any more. Done, fini, kaput…I’ll bake you anything BUT a chocolate chip cookie.
So, why am I bringing all this up now? I was lured in by Food Network again. Bobby Flay’s ‘Throwdown’ was on the other night. You got it, he was having a throwdown with Pam Weekes and Connie McDonald of New York City’s Levain Bakery who make the ‘ultimate chocolate chip cookie.’ I thought I would be able to watch Bobby make a soft, thick, chewy cookie, as well as get his recipe. To my surprise, he purposely chose to make a FLAT cookie…excuse me a ‘thin’ cookie. Why would anyone do that?? Guess what?…He LOST. Pam and Connie made the most mouthwatering chocolate chip cookie I had ever seen!!! Almost 1/2-pound of chewy, thick, soft goodness. It was incredible! But sadly, they didn’t give out their recipe. On the bright side, at least that means I wont have to go through the pain of another failed attempt to make the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and I did find their website. You can order their cookies here (careful when you visit though, I may have left a little drool off their screen). AND if you really want Bobby Flay’s recipe you can get it here. As for me…I guess it’s time to give up (again) and retire my spatula *sigh* it’s time to leave the chocolate chip cookie baking to those who can.