Best Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt

Today is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, so I got to thinking about my all-time favorite chocolate chip cookies. My favorite happens to be from La Grande Orange in Phoenix, Arizona. They make the tastiest, giant, chocolate chip cookies with sea salt. I emailed them to ask if they would share their recipe with me. They politely said no, stating it is a signature recipe that they will not publish. I get it, but I was a bit disappointed.

Instead, I went on a web search for the best chocolate chip cookies. Over and over, I came across the New York Times chocolate chip cookie recipe. They’re supposed to be amazing and they remind me a lot of my La Grande Orange favorites: big, chocolatey, and salty

I did make a few changes to the famous recipe. I couldn’t deal with a pound and a half of chocolate. I love chocolate, but it just seemed like overkill. I think it would have been, so I cut out half a pound of chocolate from the original recipe. I also used smaller chocolate chips and used a 3 ounce scoop instead of 3.5 ounces.

Oh. My. Gosh. These cookies are ridiculous. Ridiculously delicious! And huge. And rich. And salty. You must make this recipe, immediately. I promise the extra 24 hours of wait time is so, so worth it.

Do you have an all-time favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe? I’d love to hear about it. I’m always willing to try another cookie!

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt

Adapted from the New York Times

Ingredients:

 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
1 2/3 cups bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
15 ounces bittersweet chocolate (at least 60 percent cacao)
Sea salt

Directions:

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Drop chocolate pieces in and gently hand stir them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let soften for approximately 10-15 minutes, soft enough so you can scoop it. Scoop six 3-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes.

Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day.

Yields: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.