Christopher Hirscheimer
Christopher Hirscheimer

I met New York City Baker Katherine Yang at a book party for Canal House Cooks Every Day, one of our favorite cookbooks. Co-author Christopher Hirscheimer described Katherine as having created one of the best chocolate chip cookies EVER: crisp, at once salty and sweet.

Katherine is the creator of Gigi Blue a by-order seriously bakery, where she brings to bear years of experience working for two of America’s great chefs: Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller. Yikes! Katherine screamed when she heard that we wrote ‘the improvised life’, saying that it is her favorite blog and that she actually hoards posts so she can read a lot at once, similar to what we do with her wondrous cookies….

She took liberties with the usual chocolate chip cooky, shifting the texture, and adding a bit more salt to give them a buttery salty-caramel-ish aspect, a brilliant stroke.

They’d make a lovely Easter dessert or gift, just for the heck of it.

We’d serve them like Anne Disrude, another brilliant cook we know used to: for dessert, she’dpull the cookie sheet out of the oven and place it on a hot pad right in the middle of the dinner table, with a spatula for everyone to help themselves and a bowl of whipped cream to scoop with the warm cookies.

Recipe: Thin & Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies

Like most bakers, Katherine relies on measuring her ingredients by weight, not volume, for the most consistent results. We agree, but have included both methods below in case you don’t have a scale.

Makes about 5 dozen

10 ounces room temperature high-fat butter
1¼ cups (298g) dark brown sugar
¾ cup (149g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or extract
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 large eggs
1¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons (265g)all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
8 ounces chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375°. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla bean paste, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until light, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and mix on medium speed until blended, about 2 minutes.

Whisk the flour and baking soda together, then add to the dough, continuing to mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Remove the bowl from the mixer. Using a spatula, quickly mix the dough, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Drop the batter by the well-rounded tablespoon, about 4 inches apart, onto the parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, 10–11 minutes. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

great recipes galore from ‘canal house cooks every day’ (enter our giveaway!)
book giveaway: ‘canal house cooks every day’
perfect roast turkey via ‘canal house cooks everyday’ (which we’re giving away!)
just in time for the holidays: canal house cooking vol. 7
4 great downloadable d-i-y’s from canal house cooking
canal house cooking vol 6: crax & butter for dinner!!!
‘when life arrives at the door unexpectedly’ (+ lots of ideas for the holidays from canal house cooking 5)
canal house cooking: home cooks as indie publisher

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One thought on “salty-sweet chocolate chip cookie for easter and…

  1. Hi,

    The combination of salt and chocolate seems good.
    I would use salt flower. We have one of the best if not the best, here in the south of Portugal.

    Kind regards,

    José

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