September 5th, 2014. My last day!
September 5th, 2014. My last day!
September 5th, 2014. My last day!

You’ve heard of it…a legend, rising from the mist. Maidens fainting in it’s awesome wake, men on bended knee basking in it’s glory… No, it’s not that super foxy, kinda hipstery (but he smelled nice and has clean hair) guy from the donut shop gym. It is the ( ( ( (((ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE-CHIP COOKIE!))) ) ) ) Did you feel that?! I think it was the aftershock of the realization that there is an ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe…and it takes 36 hours to make a single cookie.
“F*ck That,” I say to myself 2 years ago upon the original discovery of the ( ( (((ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE-CHIP COOKIE!))) ) ) ) recipe. But the idea that my cookies where sub-par nagged at me. What if…no, no, no…well, maybe…what if it was really the best? I mean, really 36 hours isn’t THAT long. I occasionally have to wait 48 hours for Amazon to deliver my giant googly eyes, so I guess I should be capable of waiting 36 hours for ( ( (((ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE-CHIP COOKIE!))) ) ) ) So I tried it and it was worth every second.
Let’s skip to the part where I bake and incessantly tell you to lick the bowl and utensils…
Dat’ Recipe originally from Jacques Torres, adopted by For Me, For You… annotated by Covette
2 cups minus 2 Tbsp. cake flour
1 2/3 cups bread flour
1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. kosher salt + ~Tbsp for garnishing
2 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 large eggs (room temp)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ¼ pounds bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips, 60% cacao. I only trust Ghirardelli and Guittard.
Beat softened (but not melted) butter with whatever mixing gadget you prefer for 2-3 minutes until notably lighter in color with a whipped texture. Scrape down bowl incessantly.
Dump in both the white and brown sugar and continue to beat for 3-4 minutes. Mixture will noticeably lighten in color. Scrape bowl..again.

Add one egg to your butter-sugar lovely fluff, and beat about 30 seconds to incorporate. Scrape dat bowl, girl. Repeat with second egg.
In goes the vanilla.
Begin to add your flour combo to the wet ingredients, starting the mixer slowly to avoid flour all over the place. Mix until combined.
I like to take about a quarter of the chocolate chips and roughly chop it into smaller chunks. Be sure that you collect every last morsel of chocolate dust to add to the cookies. I just love the look of chocolate specks all throughout the cookies along with the larger chunks and chips.

Now for the fun bits. Add your chocolate chips. Mix until combined or if you’re feeling industrious you can fold them in by hand.
Now for the hardest part of this whole stinkin’ recipe, put all of the dough into a large seal-able container. I like to cover the top with wax paper to keep it from drying out.

…and into the fridge for 36-48 hours. Yes, really. I find that to avoid consuming it all one spoonful at a time, the bottom shelf behind something gross is the best hiding place.
This is a very critical step…the double flour power only works if you give all the ingredients time to meld and hydrate, which takes 36 hours. The caramel flavors and perfect texture are worth the wait.
———-Distract yourself for 36-48 hours*———-
Post refrigeration, scoop the dough into 1/4 -to- 1/3 cup portions, arranging on an ungreased cookie sheet with plenty of space for these big cookies to spread. I usually only bake 6 per sheet.
The last step before meeting the heat is to press the ball to flatten it slightly, and sprinkle the top of the cookie dough with kosher salt.
Baking can be tricky. I have been tracking the approximate temperature and bake times for my oven but YOUR OVEN WILL BE DIFFERENT; 385 degrees Fahrenheit for 6 minutes, turn the cookie sheet (for even baking) and 7 more minutes.
Pull the cookies when they have a nice golden edge but are still a little under-cooked in the middle. Let them sit on the hot cookie sheet to rest and ‘carry-over’ cook to perfection for another 5 minutes. The bottom of the cookie should be golden but not dark brown. If they are too dark, turn your oven down or place the cookie sheet on a higher oven rack, further from the heating element.
Remove from tray and let the cookies cool completely on a cooling rack. EAT ALL OF THEM.
I highly suggest that rather than plan ahead for every occasion (all occasion!) that could be made better by adding cookies, you keep some of this dough in your fridge at all times…am I being unreasonable? Try the cookies. Then we’ll talk.
Also, any ‘extra’ cookies should be made into ice cream sandwiches! Save yourself the hassle of scooping the ice cream and buy the ice cream in pint contains so you can cut them into perfectly sized disks…like this.
*Some Suggestions on ways you can while away the hours until cookie time;
1) 36 hour hopscotch battle to the death! You’ll win, you have cookies to live for.
2) Complete an ultramarathon, collapse from exhaustion. Meet handsome ER doctor, schedule date for 72 hours later. Bring him a cookie. Fly to Vegas that night and get hitched at the The Little White Wedding Chapel…because yeah, THAT is how good these cookies are.
3) You could watch every episode of Firefly+ the movie (12.95 hrs) , all the Harry Potter movies (19.76 hrs), and the full Lord of the Rings trilogy extended versions (11.4 hrs). Bake the cookies and then watch every Samurai Champloo episode (8.6 hrs). Weekend well spend…high five.
4) Play one game of Monopoly. Use fresh cookies as a distraction while pocketing a few 50’s from the bank. Nobody will blame you, someone had to school your sassy roommate after she claimed the Scottie dog.
5) Write the whole Twilight trilogy.
6) Start a Tumblr about hamsters with hipster haircuts, become ‘internet famous,’ get a book deal go on talk show to discuss movie. Ruin career with badly timed horny hamster joke on Ellen. No movie. Eat cookie for solace.
7) Fall in love with Alexander Skarsgard on True Blood, spend the next 35 hours and 49 seconds watching (it only takes 11 seconds to fall in love with A.S., I counted) every clip of him shirtless on youtube. Eat cookie for phenethylamine from chocolate.
Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments…my OCD says I need at least 3 more.
Today we celebrate the most under-celebrated engineering genius of the last 200 years,
Nikola Tesla. Just look at those dreamy bedroom eyes.

I created the character, now let’s make Flirty Tesla a ‘thang.’
…wait..wait…I know what you’re thinking, what does the girl who can’t eat chocolate know about brownies?’ Geez, shut up your loud-mouth mind for two seconds and I’ll tell you!* About 3 years ago; before I found out I had a ‘sensitivity’ to chocolate, I ate it every day. Seriously, I am going to have diabetes by next year. (just kidding…maybe…oh my god)
These brownies have 3 different types of chocolate!…any decent brownie recipe should have at least cocoa powder AND melted chocolate. The combination adds a depth of chocolate flavor which = extra chocolaty brownie in your face.
ALSO, I took 30 to a party yesterday and came home with ZERO and loads of compliments.

Choc-a-lot Brownies – rich, fudgy, and a little chewy
5 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into quarters
3 tbsp natural or dutch-process cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups (8.75 oz) white sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt +a pinch
1 cup all-purposed flour
8in x 8in metal baking pan + aluminum foil and cooking spray
Makes about 20 medium sized brownies.
1) Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat to 350 degrees. Line pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray, future you will totally appreciate it.

2) Find yourself a microwave safe bowl and add the butter chunks, semisweet chocolate chunks, and unsweetened chocolate chunks. Microwave on 50% power for 2 minutes. After removing it from the microwave, stir and wait a minute…then stir again. ** Repeat microwaving for another 30 seconds if your chocolate isn’t smooth as satin.

3) When smooth, whisk in the cocoa powder and set heavenly (triple chocolate!!) mixture aside to cool slightly.

4) In a larger bowl, whisk (just use the chocolate whisk, because more dishes are less fun) together eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add the cooled chocolate yum yum juice and stir to combine. <-this is where I would add some semi-sweet choc. chunks, if I was into that.

5) Dump in the flour and stir with a wooden spoon UNTIL JUST COMBINED. Don’t freak, flour streaks are okay…they will bake out.

6) Spatula that glorious brownie batter in the pan, smooth it out and sprinkle that pinch of salt on top. Bake for about 30 minutes. Your oven is not my oven, so check them at 25 minutes and every 5 minutes after that until they reach your desired gooey-ness. I suggest under-baking them to retain a fudge layer…oh, man…the fudge layer! A toothpick or knife tip inserted in the brownies should come out with moist brownie sludge on the end.

7) Cool for about 2 hours before cutting…or whatever. They’re your brownies, go nuts…or whatever.

*Said in the voice of Sookie Stackhouse a la True Blood
**Sometimes the residual heat in the butter and bowl will melt the remaining chocolate lumps, so give it a minute.


I’m glad that there are none left from yesterday, because I would eat them. All of them and suffer the most horrible migraine in the existence of migraines…AND IT WOULD BE WORTH IT!!