KIBBE’S GO- TO 🍪RECIPE

taken from Thomas Keller’s AD HOC AT HOME COOKBOOK

2⅓ cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
5 ounces 55% chocolate (see Sources, page 346), cut into chip-sized pieces (about 1¼ cups)
5 ounces 70 to 72% chocolate (see Sources, page 346), cut into chip-sized pieces (about 1¼ cups)
½ pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup packed dark brown sugar, preferably molasses sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs

This is our version of what is arguably the best cookie ever. I like to use different chocolates, one sweeter, one with a more complex bittersweet balance. After you chop the chocolate, sift it to remove any tiny fragments to give the cookies a cleaner look. If you like softer cookies, don't underbake them, just mist them with water before baking.

Of course, chocolate chip cookies are great on their own, but you could also break some up and add them to Vanilla Ice Cream (page 319) about halfway through the freezing process.

Position the oven racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper.

Sift the flour and baking soda into a medium bowl. Stir in the salt.

Put the chips in a fine-mesh basket strainer and shake to remove anychocolate "dust" (small fragments). [kibbe note: I save the chocolate dust and use it on ice cream, in hot chocolate, when I want to cover something in chocolate]

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat half the butter on medium speed until fairly smooth. Add both sugars and the remaining butter, and beat until well combined, then beat for a few minutes, until the mixture is light and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until the first one is incorporated before adding the next and scraping the bowl as necessary. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed to combine.

Mix in the chocolate.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold the dough with a spatula to be sure that the chocolate is evenly incorporated. The dough or shaped cookies can be refrigerated, well wrapped, for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 2 weeks. Freeze shaped cookies on the baking sheets until firm, then transfer to freezer containers. (Defrost frozen cookies overnight in the refrigerator before baking.)

Using about 2 level tablespoons per cookie, shape the dough into balls. Arrange 8 cookies on each pan, leaving about 2 inches between them, because the dough will spread. Bake for 12 minutes, or until the tops are no longer shiny, switching the position and rotating the pans halfway through baking.

Cool the cookies on the pans on cooling racks for about 2 minutes to firm up a bit, then transfer to the racks to cool completely. Repeat to bake the remaining cookies. (The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.)

MAKES ABOUT THIRTY 3-INCH COOKIES

(NOTE If your brown sugar has hardened, soften it in the microwave for 15 to 30 seconds.)