Makes 12 to 14 approx. 3½" cookies (depending on how much you like cookie dough)
Slightly adapted from Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home
Nigella calls for milk chocolate chips. I tried both milk and semi-sweet and liked the semi-sweet better, but that's just personal preference. Bittersweet chocolate chips would also be good. Sometimes I make my chocolate chip cookies with two or three different kinds of chips, and people always love them.
This batter has a high chip to dough ratio. Cookie batter that is dense with chocolate chips doesn't spread much. In this version, I flattened the scoops of dough slightly with a metal spatula before baking them so I would end up with slightly larger cookies. I also liked them better with about 1/3 cup less than a full bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
As always, I urge you to seek out local and organic ingredients; they really do make a difference.
I think both versions taste best the first 24 hours after baking, but they freeze well.
10 Tablespoons (1¼ sticks) salted organic butter (Nigella uses unsalted)
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup superfine sugar (I just whizzed granulated sugar in the blender)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 large farm fresh egg, refrigerator-cold
1 large farm fresh egg yolk, refrigerator-cold
2 cups organic all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 11½ to 12 ounce bag semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (or a little less)
Heat the oven to 325°. Line a heavy duty baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper (when I bake cookies, I just use the same piece of parchment for the entire batch).
Melt the butter and let it cool slightly (I put mine in the freezer). Put the brown and white sugars into a bowl, pour the slightly cooled, melted butter over them, and beat together with a hand held electric mixer (Nigella uses KitchenAid mixer).
Beat in the vanilla, the cold egg, and cold egg yolk, until your mixture is light and creamy, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Slowly mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt until just blended, then fold in the chocolate chips.
Using a 1/4-cup round ice cream scoop, drop the cookies onto the prepared baking sheet (I put fit 6 or 7 cookies this size on a sheet). Flatten the cookies slightly with a metal spatula if desired. Keep the bowl of the cookie dough in the refrigerator between batches.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Eat within a day or two or freeze.
Nigella's Freeze note (I didn't try this):
Unbaked cookie dough can be scooped onto parchment-lined baking sheets and frozen until solid. Transfer frozen dough to resealable bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake direct from frozen, as directed in recipe but adding an extra 2 to 3 minutes to baking time.
Nigella's Big Chocolate Chip Cookies, the Less Fuss Version
Makes 12 to 14 approximately 3½" cookies
Adapted from Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home
10 Tablespoons (1¼ sticks) organic salted butter
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large farm fresh eggs
2 cups organic all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 11½ to 12 ounce bag semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (or a little less)
Heat the oven to 325°. Line a heavy duty baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper.
Melt the butter and place it in a large mixing bowl. (I melt my butter in a large stainless steel mixing bowl set right over the lowest heat on a gas oven burner, then add the rest of the ingredients to it).
Using a large rubber spatula, stir in the sugars. Add the vanilla and eggs and stir until well combined.
Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and stir until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Using a 1/4-cup round ice cream scoop, drop the cookies onto the prepared baking sheet. If you have the space, keep the bowl of cookie dough in the refrigerator between batches; otherwise, don't worry about it.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the edges are toasted. Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack. Eat within a day or two or freeze.
Recipe source: FarmgirlFare.com
http://www.farmgirlfare.com/2011/03/recipe-nigellas-big-chocolate-chip.html
