February 2, 2009 - 2:36pm
"Big-City" Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies?
I know chocolate chip cookies is a rather mundane topic.....but, I've found EXCEPTIONAL chocolate chip cookies at bakeries. First, I though that it was only in Chicago. Now I live in Boston (MetroWest, anyway) and I've found the SAME cookies. Does anyone have a recipe and technique to share?
The cookies: NO gluten development that I can feel. They fall apart in your mouth. Very light, when they do so. The shape is a bit odd in that they don't taper to the edge much, at all. Very cylindrical, that way. The surface has little shallow cracks. Nicely sweet flavor.
Does anyone else know the cookie(s) that I am talking about? Better yet, does anyone know how to make them!
I hope to hear many suggestions!
John
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So is the cookie cake-like, at least compared to the original toll-house recipe? If that's the case, then Alton Brown's "the puffy" chocolate chip cookie recipe might work. Just search "chocolate chip cookie alton brown" on foodnetwork.com if that's the case.
Thank you for the suggestion I'm a big Alton fan, too, and I have that episode. (My favorite of his are the chewy ones.) No, these are not puffy. They crumble in your mouth, literally falling apart into tiny crums. For whatever it's worth, they are also always some of the lightest colored chocolate chip cookies I've seen.
John
If you found the "same" cookies, I would first assume that these bakeries order their chocolate chip dough pre-mixed in big tubs, or "hockey-pucks" of frozen dough layered in boxes. This doesn't mean the cookies are "less than" fresh batch cookies in a bakery....I know of several good bakeries that use these doughs, and the cookies can be pretty darn good. In a professional bakery, breads and desserts can be a priority, and cookies to sell for customers who want cookies. I still rather bake my at home......something about fresh from the oven makes me eat more than I should.
Hi,
I'm sure you've hunted the web. I found this post, with references to several trying to emulate "City Bakery" cookies. There are several recipes referred to and an article from the NY Times that reviewed CCCs.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/478846
One item of interest I read was refrigerating the dough overnight (or longer) before cooking.
And if you are older, like me, you may remember the furor over the "Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe" or "Mrs. Field's Cookie Recipe". In both cases, a similar urban legend and the same cookie recipe. This one uses blenderized oatmeal in the dough, along with grated chocolate, although I've made that recipe many times without the grated choc in it. Also provides a bit more thickness in the cookie.
If you do track down the recipe you are looking for, please let us know!
Also, since I'm in the same area....where is this bakery with the cookies you speak of? I'd love to give them a try!
MommaT