So… have you noticed some of my photos look a little different lately?  Well they do.  Here’s the thing, my camera is jacked up.  My lovely dog, accidentally knocked over the tripod, which is almost always set up in my kitchen, and boom.  Down went the camera.  And the lens is now skewed.  So no more sharp focus photos.  Luckily, I have an iPhone.  Which I love.  It is an amazing piece of technology.  Not only did the iPhone camera already almost rival my 10 year old digital SLR, but now, it’s pretty much what I am using to exclusively photograph this blog.  Kind of crazy considering I’m technically, sort of, a photographer.  But way to go Apple for putting a kick ass camera in your phone!!

Anyway, I made some cookies.  From my Ad Hoc cookbook.  They were good, but I have to admit, not my perfect chocolate chip cookie.  These cookie have a higher brown sugar content, and end up a little crisper then I prefer.  I like a super chewy, buttery, bordering on greasy chocolate chip cookie.  Don’t get me wrong, these were good.  If you sandwiched some ice cream between two cookies like he suggests I’m pretty sure it would be undeniably amazing.  Alas I had no ice cream, nor room in the freezer to make any (seriously I need another freezer, like now).  They were however, a worthwhile endeavor on my perfect chocolate chip cookie quest.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe from Thomas Keller

Makes about 30 three inch cookies

Ingredients

2 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

5 ounces 55% chocolate, cut into chip sized pieces (about 1 1/4 cups)

5 ounces 70%-72% chocolate, cup into chip sized pieces (about 1 1/4 cups)

1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup packed dark brown sugar, preferably molasses sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

Directions

1.  Postion the oven racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper.

2.  Sift the flour and baking soda into a medium bowl.  Stir in the salt.  Put the chips in a fine mesh basket strainer and shake to remove any chocolate dust (small fragments).

3.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat half the butter on medium speed until fairly smooth.  Add both sugars and the remaining butter, and beat until well combined, then beat for another few minutes, until the mixture is light and creamy.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating until the first one is incorporated before adding the next and scraping the bowl as necessary.  Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed to combine.  Mix in the chocolate.

4.  Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold the dough with a spatula to be sure that the chocolate is evenly incorporated.  The dough, or shaped cookies, can be refrigerated, well wrapped, for up to 5 days or frozen for up to two weeks.  Freeze shaped cookies on the baking sheet until firm, then transfer to freezer containers (Defrost cookies overnight in refrigerator before baking).

5.  Using about 2 level tablespoons per cookies (I used a cookie scoop), shape the dough into balls.  Arrange eight cookies on each pan, leaving about 2 inches between them, because the dough will spread.  Bake for 12 minutes, or until the tops are no longer shiny, switching the position and rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Cool the cookies on the pans on cooling racks for about 2 minutes to firm up a bit, then transfer to the racks to cool completely.  Repeat to bake the remaining cookies.