Jacques Torres’ Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe is truly the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe! A few tricks like 2 types of flour and aging the dough make a huge difference. Perfect in every way!
These famous New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies took over Nestles Tollhouse as our family’s favorite cookies. Whether it’s their huge size, fabulous chewy texture, or delicious caramel undertones, Jacques Torres’ Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies are the best you’ll ever taste!
Why You Must Make
- My husband offered to buy me a larger stand mixer so I could make these more often! He adores these cookies.
- After his first couple of cookies, he declared this as the best chocolate chip cookie recipe he’s tasted. My knitting friends who taste-tested them agreed!
- These are BIG cookies, packed with chocolate. The method and ingredients are a bit unorthodox, but the results are outstanding.
Recipe Secrets:
- First, there is an unusual combination of bread flour and cake flour instead of ordinary all-purpose flour.
- Also, these are filled with loads of chocolate, but not just ordinary chocolate chips, although those will work in a pinch. But choclate discs or feves (affiliate link). I find a Guittard version at Sur la Table or Williams-Sonoma.
- Then there’s the overnight (or longer) chilling of the dough. Up to 3 days is recommended, but at least overnight.
Something magical happens during that time. I’m sure there’s a food chemist out there that could give the rationale, but just trust me. They’re worth the wait!
NYT Cooking – Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Nestles’ Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies sans nuts are the gold standard for chocolate chip cookies in the Berg household. I have tried all the “best” and “ultimate” recipes and none have come close until finding this NYT Cooking Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe. There was a huge buzz among foodies when this best chocolate chip cookie recipe first appeared in the Times in 2008.
A pound of butter, cake flour and bread flour, plus 2 pounds of chocolate discs equals perfection. The giant mounds of dough bake into bakery-sized cookies with a superb texture. My youngest couldn’t wait until the cookies were cool before sinking his teeth into the gooey chocolate.
How to Make the BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
When I first started baking these, I used 3 bags of semi-sweet morsels instead of the recommended chocolate disks. I finally found Guittard chocolate disks, also known as chocolate feves, depending on the brand. Cake flour and bread flour (affiliate links) can be found at most supermarkets. Using a combination of flour types is another reason these are the BEST chocolate chip cookies.
These homemade chocolate chip cookies had more caramel undertones with the 72-hour chilling time, but we have trouble being that patient when chocolate is involved! Try for at least overnight. You definitely want to make a batch of the famous Jacques Torres’ Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies!!
Feel free to use regular chocolate chips if you’re having trouble locating chocolate discs. They’ll still be delicious!
PRO-Tip: You can make your own cake flour if you don’t want to make a trip to the market. I used to do this when I was a teenager baking in my parents’ kitchen! For one cup of cake flour, place 1 cup of regular, all-purpose flour in a 1-cup measuring cup. Remove 2 tablespoons and replace that with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
Sift this mixture a couple of times and use as directed in your recipe. Double or triple as needed for whatever recipe you’re making that calls for cake flour. Replacing a bit of the all-purpose flour with cornstarch decreases the amount of gluten per cup making it act more like standard cake flour.
Keys to Making Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies:
In review, these are the keys to making these better than Nestles Tollhouse Cookies.
- Use a combination of Bread Flour and Cake Flour (or pastry flour in a pinch–check the note in the recipe card).
- Have your eggs and butter at room temperature for easy incorporation.
- Use chocolate discs (affiliate link) instead of chocolate chips. A premium brand is key.
- I’ve also used another favorite chocolate, Sharffen Berger’s Baking Chunks (affiliate link). To die for!!
- If all you have on hand is regular chocolate chips, those will definitely work.
- PRO-Tip: Mix the dough with the paddle attachment to minimize air from being whipped into the dough.
- PRO-Tip: Cover and chill the dough for 72 hours. That’s THREE Days! If you cannot wait, at least chill overnight, but try for longer.
- Make BIG cookies! I use my largest cookie scoop (affiliate link). That’s 1/4 CUP of dough!
- Do Not Overbake. The centers can look soft, but not raw when you pull them out of the oven. There will be some carryover heat from the cookie sheet until it cools.
More Chocolate Cookie Recipes You’ll Love:
- Better Than Brownies Chocolate Cookies from Brown Eyed Baker
- Killer Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Classic Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
- Flourless Chocolate Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Caramel Butter Bars
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Dark Chocolate Pudding Cookies
- Triple Chocolate Fudge Cookies
- Quadruple Chocolate Cookies
- More Cookie Recipes
This recipe was first shared in June 2010. Photos and text were last updated in 2021.
Jacques Torres' Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Jacques Torres Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies made famous via the NYT.
Ingredients
- 1 pound butter
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 2 ¼ cups brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 3 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour*
- 3 cups bread flour
- 2 teaspoons salt (1 tablespoon if using unsalted butter)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 pounds 60-percent chocolate semisweet or bittersweet chocolate disks, feves or morsels
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars.
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and add both the cake flour and bread flour, baking powder, baking soda, and vanilla; mix until well combined.
- Fold in the chocolate making sure to distribute well.
- Cover and refrigerate the dough overnight or for up to 72 hours.
- Before baking, bring the dough out of the refrigerator for about an hour.
- Preheat oven to 350º. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.
- Using a 2-ounce scoop (¼ cup) for larger cookies or a medium scoop (1 ½ T) for smaller cookies, scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
- Bake until lightly browned, but still soft, about 18-20 minutes for larger cookies and 12-15 minutes for smaller cookies. Cool slightly on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Yields 26-36 larger cookies or 100 smaller cookies. (Or if you're my sister, Katie, it will yield 300 cookies and take you all night to bake!!)
Have your butter and eggs at room temperature for easy incorporation.
Use the paddle attachment, not the whisk to mix the cookie dough. This helps keep them chewy, not cakey.
*If you only have pastry flour, not cake flour, it can be used in a pinch. Note that the percent of protein in these two flours are different and cake flour was used in the original recipe.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
36Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 291Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 50mgSodium: 316mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 1gSugar: 27gProtein: 3g
37 Comments on “Jacques Torres’ Best Chocolate Chip Cookies”
Cake flour and pastry are not the same thing.
You’re right, but pastry flour can be used in a pinch. I’ve edited to clarify. If you haven’t made these, give them a try! They’re outstanding.
I totally agree this is thee absolute best cookie dough recipe EVER!
It’s been a long, LONG time since I’ve had these. Not chocolate chip cookies — this awesome recipe. Really one of the better cookie recipes, ever. Great job — thanks.
Such an interesting recipe from the use of bread flour to the recommended chilling time. And I think all these nuances pay off – the cookies look fabulous!
Wow! “The best” has some very large shoes to fill! I can’t wait to try this recipe! Lot’s of firsts for me in this one. I’ve never aged my cookie dough before so you definitely have me curious! Also a pound of butter! I’ve never been disappointed with your recipes so this one is definitely going on my list. I usually use Belgian disks so I’m assuming they’ll be ok for these too!
I love the soft inside and crunch outside like these have, the combo of cake flour and bread flour really make a huge difference great recipe.
If Bill declared them the best, that’s good enough for me! Sounds like a great treat for Super Bowl Sunday:@)
These cookies look to die for loaded with chocolate chips!
I noticed that you state “Use a 4-ounce cookie scoop. That’s 1/4 CUP of dough!” 4-ounces is HALF a cup, not one quarter.
It’s been 10 years since this recipe was posted, so I suppose it doesn’t really matter at this point.
Good catch, Terry! Yup, I’m always glad when readers like you point out my goofs. Best not to cause confusion. Thanks so much!
My kids really enjoyed them! They were so good!
My kids can’t stop eating them! They were so good!
I’m obsessed with this recipe. These are so good!