very close replica of my own cookie-goodness by esthereggy via flickr

I can, at times, be a cookie snob.  I like my cookies just so: a little crunch on the outside with a nice gooey, chewy center.  Most recipes I’ve tried have turned out agreeable results, but never have I found a recipe that just oozes cookie-ness.  Until now.

Exploring the Not Without Salt website, I came across a recipe for what the blog’s writer, Ashley, touts as “The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie.”  Pretty lofty title for such a humble confection.  However, she could not possibly be more correct.  The dough tastes of a classic brown sugar cookie dough; it’s light but with some heft, so neither do you feel like you’re biting into a biscuit, nor does it cook into some wafer-thin cracker (two problems I’ve had with previous recipes).  The chocolate is, in one word, abundant.  And spread throughout the cookie so that every bite contains its melty bits.

I’ve adapted Ashley’s recipe for my own time and budget, cutting out the Turbinado sugar (and just using granulated sugar) and using Trader Joe’s milk chocolate chips (which I ran, semi-successfully, through a food processor to chop up a bit) instead of fancy chocolate.  Also, I forgot to sprinkle on the sea salt, which was probably to my detriment, because I can only imagine how amazing these must be with a little crunch of saltiness on top.  Regardless, despite my ommissions and additions, these were by far the best cookies I’ve ever made.  Enjoy!

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie by Ashley at notwithoutsalt.com

2 sticks butter

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup Turbinado sugar

1 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

2  eggs

2 tsp vanilla

3 1/2 cup All Purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 lb. chocolate (use the best quality chocolate you can afford. With a serrated knife cut chocolate chunks roughly 1/2 inch)

Cream the butter and the sugars until light. Scrape down the side of the bowl. Continue mixing while adding the eggs one at time. Make sure each egg is incorporated before adding the next. Add the vanilla. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Combine the flour, soda and salt in another bowl. With a whisk, stir to combine. With the machine on low, slowly add the flour. Mix until just combined, taking care not to over mix. With a spatula fold in the chocolate.

If you so choose, and I do recommend that you do, sprinkle a very fine dusting of good quality sea salt. Fleur de Sel or Murray River Pink Salt are my recommendations.

Bake at 360* for 12 minutes. They should be lightly golden on the outside but still look gooey on the inside.

I can’t take this rain.  And it’s not even rain; more like a perpetual mist that seeps through every pore and fiber, dampening clothing and temperament alike.  Everything in Boston is absolutely and utterly soggy.  The air is thick and drenched.  Summer hues peep out beneath long, dark raincoats.  Faces are permanently shaded by nylon umbrellas.  I think you’re getting the idea.  This cannot possibly be June.

For me, rain breeds complacency.  I don’t want to do anything.  I don’t want to go out on my bike, and thus must muster every ounce of will to go out at all; I don’t want to cook, because my body goes into hibernation and craves nothing but bread and chocolate.  Add to this my most recent Trader Joe’s discovery:

It’s called “Chocotal” and it is an assortment of four delectably exotic and rich chocolate ice creams.  Of course, I saved the Costa Rican Chocolate one for last.   Wasn’t quite ready to see it go…  Still, hello, heaven, I always knew you’d be in chocolate form.

Anyway, like a mourning shawl lifted from the hunched shoulders of an ancient babushka, today was the first sunny day in what seems like an eternity.  I actually felt the warmth and heat of the sun!  Such a blasphemy that we need to feel this way at the end of June!  But, it was glorious, nonetheless.  And so, I immediately hopped on my bike and rode out to my local Trader Joe’s for some red wine and cherries.

Yeah, those are pits.  I got a little hungry during the shoot.  Cherries, to me, represent the jubilant calling of summer.  Their tartness, sweetness, juiciness, and vividness epitomize the food of this season.  There is just about nothing better than biting into a chilled, plump cherry after a long day out in the sun.  So, should the sun decide to tough it out for me, I’ll be making this Cranberry Cherry Relish to spoon over some grilled chicken sausage.