If you search Google for “The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie” you will end up with hundreds of results, as I did on Sunday morning.  I’ve grown tired of the recipe on the back of the yellow bag of “chocolate” chips.  I wanted to try something new.  I found Jacques Torres recipe on Martha Stewart’s web site.  I was pretty sure that combination would produce a darn good cookie, and I was right!

There are hundreds of professional baker bloggers, who have fabulous advice.  As a home cook, I will tell you the most important things I have learned about baking:

• You must measure precisely
• You must follow the steps in the order written
• Check your oven temperature for accuracy
• Make sure your flour, spices, baking powder and baking soda are fresh

A few things that have made me a much better cookie baker:

• Use the best butter, chocolate, nuts and flour you can
• Line your baking sheets with parchment paper
• Use a dough scoop to ensure consistency in size and even baking
• Make a “test” cookie
• Cookies will continue baking after being removed from the oven
• Let them settle on the baking sheet before moving them to the cooling rack

Ingredients

Recipe adapted from The Martha Stewart Show, May  2007

1 pound unsalted butter

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar

4 large eggs

3 cups plus 2 tablespoons pastry flour

3 cups bread flour

1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 pounds Jacques Torres House (60 percent cocoa) Chocolate or other best-quality semi-sweet bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped. I used 3 bags of  62% Dark chocolate chunks, as I did not feel like chopping chocolate.

I added 2 cups of chopped, toasted pecans just before adding the chocolate chunks

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (If you have a convection baking option, use it if you plan to bake more than one sheet at a time.) Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.  Toast 2 cups of pecans for 5 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and add both flours, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, pecans and chocolate; mix until well combined.

Using a 4-ounce scoop for larger cookies or a 1-ounce scoop for smaller cookies, scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until lightly browned, but still soft, about 20 minutes for larger cookies and about 15 minutes for smaller cookies. Cool slightly on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

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