The Bauer Confidential

I decided to try a recipe that supposedly came from a New York Times contest to find the World’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. I made it exactly as the recipe says and they are really good, but the recipe seemed a little fussy, so I simplified and changed it a bit to suit me. I like really chewy chocolate chip cookies (that’s why I use all bread flour), and I like really dark chocolate. If you don’t like dark chocolate, use semi-sweet or milk-chocolate chips instead.
I like to roll all the dough into balls, put them on a cookie sheet and stick it in the freezer. Once the dough is frozen, I transfer the balls into a freezer bag and store in the freezer until ready to use. They take a little extra time in the oven, but it’s very nice to be able to make delicious home made cookies in a snap.
April’s version of the World’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
3 1/3 cups bread flour (you can use All Purpose flour, the cookies won’t be quite as chewy)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar (you can use light brown sugar, again the cookies won’t be quite as chewy)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks (I used Ghiradelli 60% cacao chips)
Coarse salt like Kosher or Sea Salt
1. Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugars together until light, about 5 minutes if using a stand mixer. Add eggs, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla. 3. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate pieces.
4. Put dough into an airtight container or cover with saran wrap and put in refrigerator until thoroughly cool.  Can be stored up to 72 hours in refrigerator before baking.  Frozen dough balls will stay good in the freezer a month or more.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.
6. Roll dough into large balls, bigger than golf balls, put 6 on a baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with kosher or sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 12 to 15 minutes (depends on the size, so watch carefully). Cool cookies on sheet for 5-10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
This makes a large batch, depending on how big you make your cookies, anywhere from 18 to 36 cookies.