I’m sitting out here on my terrace, high above the street. Four stories below, the backyards of ground-floor apartments form a mosaic, dotted with outdoor grills and brick-bordered gardens. A man across the street sits in a lawn chair, reading a book. I can hear a girl talking on the phone. The couple next door is outside watering their geraniums in the waning sunshine. A pair of fat bumblebees twirl lazily overhead. From the street, the scent of warm chocolate chip cookies wafts up on the breeze.
It’s coming from the bakery down below, the one famous for those cookies. When the wind blows just so, it smells like you’re standing in front of the oven.
There are only so many minutes any sane person can take of this. I persevere, doing my work and letting the sun warm my face, for about thirty minutes before I cave.
My freezer is, as per usual, stocked with multiple kinds of cookie dough. I usually make a double batch and freeze extra scoops for moments just like this. Oh, you think I am brilliant? Thank you. I humbly agree.
Today I go with the classics: the Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe. This cookie is the one you remember, the one you ate when you were ten, the one that doesn’t need any embellishments or fancy chocolate chips or crazy mixing techniques. It’s simple and stripped-down and yields a perfect cookie: crisp at the edges and slightly soft in the middle. There’s just enough chocolate to satisfy you, but not so much that you really need a glass of milk. This is a recipe not to be tinkered with.
Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
From the Nestle Tollhouse chip bag
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter with the sugars until light and creamy. Add the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, and beat thoroughly, scraping down the bowl as you go.
Add the flour mixture gradually to the wet ingredients. Mix until combined.
Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula. Drop heaping spoonfuls of dough into an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until just beginning to brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.