• Yield: Makes 1-1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies

  • Time: 45 minutes plus time for chilling total


Ingredients
 

  • 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8-1/2 ounces) cake flour

  • 1-2/3 cups (8-1/2 ounces) bread flour

  • 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 (10 ounces) light brown sugar

  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar

  • 2 large eggs

  • 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

  • 1-1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or féves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)

  • Sea salt

Instructions


1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.


2. Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds.


3. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.


4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.


5. Scoop 6 3-1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.


Note: Disks are sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate; Valrhona féves (oval-shaped chocolate pieces) are available at Whole Foods.


From "Perfection? Hint: It's Warm and Has a Secret," an article by David Leite which appeared in the July 9, 2008 issue of the New York Times. Recipe adapted from Jacques Torres. Visit www.leitesculinaria.com, David's James Beard award-winning Web site for more of his articles and recipes.

David Leite
David Leite is the publisher of the website Leite's Culinaria, which has won two James Beard awards. He is the author Notes on a Banana: A Memoir of Food, Love, and Manic Depression, as well as The New Portuguese Table: Exciting Flavors from Europe's Western Coast, which won the 2010 IACP First Book/Julia Child Award. Leite also won a 2008 James Beard award for Newspaper Feature Writing Without Recipes, a 2006 Bert Green Award for Food Journalism, and Association of Food Journalists awards in 2006 and 2007.