Extremely Enormous and Very Crinkly Chocolate Chip Cookies
Oh, it's going to be a good week! I mean, how can it not, when we're starting off with these Extremely Enormous and Very Crinkly Chocolate Chip Cookies?!! Woo-hoo!! Monday just got a little easier!!
I've seen this gigantic cookie popping up on the Internet for a long time now and I resisted testing it out because who really needs another chocolate chip cookie recipe? Here on the site, I've already got plenty, including my tried and true favorites like this one and this and this with the addition of Heath Bars. But then, Julia Moskin did a spread on it in the NY TImes and I could feel my resolve weakening. I clipped out the recipe and put in into my Things-To-Make folder. Still, I held out--the article came out last September and I remained sensible and calm, opting to try out new and more exotic desserts. But last week while we were away at a hockey tournament, a bag of dark chocolate chips that we just had to have got left in the car on a 90+ degree day and melted into a very gooey mess (but was thankfully in a sealed plastic bag) and I was able to rescue it and chill it into a solid block of chocolate which screamed out to be used asap. Innocently, I turned to my folder, saw this very recipe and the next thing I knew I was chopping up that chocolate and tossing it into this cookie batter!
Silly me! Why did I think I didn't need another chocolate chip cookie in my life?!!! If ever utter another ridiculous statement like that again, somebody please stop me!! Guys, these are perfection and go a long way to adding more joy to the world!
Just look at them! The sheer size alone has my heart doing flip flops!
And then there are the crinkles--which you achieve by banging the pan on the rack several times during the baking process--also an ideal way to relieve stress!! Which means we can sort of justify the eating of them based on maintaining good mental health. Lol!!
Also, as a lover of the chew factor, I would be doing these cookies a huge disservice by not telling you that these also rate ridiculously high on the chewiness scale!
Chewy, crinkly, enormous--not to mention buttery and loaded with chocolate--yup, we definitely need another chocolate chip cookie in our lives and what’s more, we need them now!!
Extremely Enormous and Very Crinkly Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 10 gigantic cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes, plus chilling time; Bake Time: 16-18 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons water
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped coarsely
The Recipe
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350ª F. Line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil or parchment paper and set aside.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add both sugars and beat on medium for a few minutes, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add in the egg, vanilla and water and mix on low speed. Then add in the flour mixture and mix on low speed until incorporated. Add in the chocolate and mix on low. (If you don’t want to bake these right away, you can transfer the mixture into an airtight container and chill for up to 24 hours).
4. Form the dough into 100 gram or 3 ½ ounce balls (a heaping ⅓ cup) and place 4 of them on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them far apart. Place the sheet into the freezer for 15 minutes. Then bake the sheet for 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, add 4 more balls to the reserved sheet and place in the freezer.
6. After the cookies have baked 10 minutes, they will have puffed up. Pick up the tray with oven mitts and let it bang down onto the oven rack hard, so that the cookies fall down in their centers and the edges get more set. After 2-3 minutes, repeat the banging process again. Do this every couple of minutes, until the cookies are golden brown with lots of ridges around the edges and the centers are lighter and not fully cooked, for a total baking time of anywhere between 16-20 minutes.
7. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and allow the cookies to cool completely before removing them. Repeat the same process for the remaining cookies.
8. Honestly, these are best on the day you bake them, I kind of feel that all chewy cookies are, but these were still being happily consumed on day 3. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature.
Enjoy!
Note: Recipe adapted from The New York Times (Julia Moskin) via The Vanilla Bean Baking Book by Sarah Kieffer.
