Last week I asked my friend Jeff what I should bring to the 30 birthday celebration that he was planning for our friend Devon. His response, “chocolate chip cookies”, came without hesitation. 

Relative to some of the other birthday desserts I’ve undertaken in recent months, you’re probably thinking that this request was letting me off easy, but au contraire. The subject of chocolate chip cookies was was on my mind whenever I had idle time this week –  while scrubbing my bathroom, for many long miles on the treadmill, on conference calls…

Because it’s not as simple as saying, “make a pound cake”, or “make a fruit tart” – in those cases you can pretty much expect what the outcome will be. Eskimos feel it is necessary to have one hundred words to capture all of the subtle variations of one single thing, and I believe that we’d be well-served to take this approach with the chocolate chip cookie.

Chewy, crispy, multi-textured, New York Times, Toll House, buttery, complex and hinted with notes of toffee or coffee, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, super-dark chocolate, warm and melted, stand-in for bread in an ice cream sandwich, frosted, oversized, average-sized, bite-sized, sweet, savory, gooey-centered, peanut butter flavored, vanilla flavored, bacon-enhanced, sea salt sprinkled… and don’t even get me started on nuts, if you’re into that kind of thing. I could literally bake chocolate chip cookies every single day (oh, to dream) and never bake the same cookie twice.

In the end, I based my decision upon the situation. The party was cocktail, past dinner hour, at a private Irish bar in Hell’s Kitchen with generous pours and a decent beer selection. The cookies, chewy and just big enough for two bites, were sweetened only with light brown sugar for quick caramelization. I upped the salt to add some complexity and balance the sweetness of the dreamy milk chocolate chips. They went well with beer or whiskey, and that’s what I was going for.

Devon turning 30 prompted me to reflect on how we’ve grown up together over the past 6 years. We were 24 when we met, each new to the city and clinging to each other for life support in the sea of uncontrollable chaos that was Intermediate School 184 in the Bronx. When trying to express how Devon helped me during that surreal first year, well, I’ll just sum it up this way: When the spitters were coming, Devon devised a warning system to keep us, and the students, dry. And at the end of the especially hard days, when things that were unthinkable to anyone outside the school were happening to us, we’d go have a drink and laugh (or cry) about it, which gave me enough strength to go back and do it again the next day. Together, we did all the silly, crazy things that single girls do when they arrive in New York City, and (thankfully), we lived to laugh about it all.  

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Chewy Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Adapted from Gourmet, February 2002

1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips (7 1/2 oz)

When facing life’s difficult choices, it’s always awesome when you are presented with the option of not having to decide. This week, as I went back and forth on which chocolate-y treat to bake as a thank you to some colleagues who went above and beyond and saved my butt, I couldn’t decide between fudge brownies or chocolate chip cookies. 

Then, I discovered a cookie that embodies everything I love about both these baked goods, all rolled into one (once again, proving that Martha is a genius).

For your consideration, a rich chocolate cookie, chewy-gooey on the inside, like a brownie, with a cracked outer layer, providing just a hint of crunch, like a cookie. It has the sweet and salty thing going on in a big way, thanks to a generous pinch of kosher salt, just the way I do it with my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. Oh, and did I mention that these cookies are studded with a  combination of dark and milk chocolate chunks?

It’s pretty much like going to delicious, chewy, chocolate-salted heaven.

When scooping these cookies onto your parchment (or silicone mat) lined pans, remember that less is more. These cookies spread far as they bake.

Also, smaller scoops work great for this – just a little dab will do ya.

I thought that the first batch was missing something in the aesthetics department, and opted to sprinkle some coarsely chopped dark chocolate over the top before baking.

It produced beautiful results and deserves to be added to the top shelf list of favorite cookie recipes. I will be baking these again (and again, and again…)

Double Chocolate Cookies
Adapted from MarthaStewart.com

Makes about 3 dozen

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 pound good-quality milk chocolate, 4 ounces coarsely chopped and 4 ounces cut into 1/4-inch chunks

2 oz. good-quality dark chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Melt 4 ounces coarsely chopped chocolate with the butter in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water; let cool slightly.

Put chocolate mixture, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until combined. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chunks.

Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with chopped dark chocolate. Bake until cookies are flat and surfaces crack, about 15 minutes (cookies should be soft). Let cool on parchment on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.