Chocolate Chip Cookie Test No. 2-America's Test Kitchen

I've been reading a lot about chocolate chip cookies and this particular dissertation on the subject by Kenji Lopez-Alt is a thorough read on the subject. He and I have similar feelings about the perfect chocolate chip cookie: "barely crisp around the edges with a buttery, toffee-like crunch that transitions into a chewy, moist center that bends like caramel, rich with butter and big pockets of melted chocolate."

And since he did very extensive research and testing on the subject, I've decided to bake his recipe last in my quest for the perfect cookie recipe. I'm hoping I'm saving the best for last. But in the meantime, I'm taking cues from his research: brown butter gives the cookies the deep caramel flavor I crave. I turned to America's Test Kitchen's recipe in their The Perfect Cookie book as my next cookie test. 

This recipe was appealing since I didn't have to do any resting time with the dough. As soon as I browned the butter, the recipe was ready to assemble and bake. 

The Recipe: America's Test Kitchen Chocolate Chip Cookies (and there's a nice accompanying video)

Recipe Highlights:

• browned 10 of the 14 tablespoons of butter needed in the recipe
• a 3 tablespoon dough ball yields crispy edges and a soft center
• bake until the cookies are still a little pale to get a softer cookie
• called for dark brown sugar
• only required using baking soda
• used bittersweet chips for a less sweet flavor from the chips (last time I used semi-sweet)

Overall: These cookies had the deep, caramel/nutty flavor I've been desiring and also had a perfect salty bite amongst the sugary cookie base. The use of bittersweet chips definitely helped with flavor but the texture wasn't all I had dreamed and hoped for. Once the cookies cooled, they didn't maintain their soft, chewy texture that I preferred but were still delicious. This recipe is almost the perfect cookie in my eyes. 🍪🍪🍪🍪