CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Makes about 20 cookies
Chocolate chip cookies might be the most quintessentially American recipe in this book. (They’re adapted from the Nestlé Toll House cookies, the one printed on the back of the package, since that’s what most people requested for this book.) One of the secrets is teff flour, a dark whole-grain flour that is filled with iron and good nutrients and also tastes faintly of chocolate. If you are ever baking with chocolate, add some teff. I suppose that makes these cookies not so typically American, but I think that’s just fine too.
- 375 grams All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour Blend
- 50 grams teff flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 16 tablespoons (230 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cubed
- ¾ cup (165 grams) packed light brown sugar
- ¾ cup (160 grams) organic cane sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (335 grams) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into ½-inch pieces
- ½ cup (50 grams) chopped nuts (we prefer hazelnuts)
- Flaky sea salt (optional)
Combine the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour blend, teff flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda until they have become one color.
Cream the butter and sugar. Put the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. With the paddle attachment, run the mixer on medium speed until the butter is creamy and softened. Add the brown sugar and cane sugar. Blend them together on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the eggs and mix until all traces of egg disappear into the dough. Mix in the vanilla.
Finish the dough. With the mixer running, add the flour mixture a scoop at a time. When all the flour has been added and all trace of flour has disappeared into the dough, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the chocolate and nuts. Mix until just combined.
Refrigerate the dough. Wrap the bowl in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. If you have the patience—and oh, it will be worth it—shove the dough to the back of the refrigerator and try to forget it for 3 days. The flours will hydrate fully, the flavors will intensify, and you will be happy. If you can’t stand it, please at least refrigerate the dough overnight. (You could also do a science experiment and eat cookies at the same time. Bake one batch after an hour, another after one day, and another after two days or three days. Take notes.)
Prepare to bake. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Bake the cookies. Weigh out 30 grams of cookie dough. Make that into a ball of dough. Put the dough ball on the baking sheet, then gently slightly flatten the dough ball with the palm of your hand. Smooth out the edges of the cookie. Repeat until you end up with 6 cookies on the baking sheet with about 3 inches of space between them. Put the baking sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Bake the cookies until the edges are crisp and the center is still soft to the touch, 8 to 12 minutes, turning the baking sheet 180 degrees in the oven halfway through baking. Take the cookies out of the oven and top each cookie with a pinch of flaky sea salt, if you wish. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then move the cookies to a wire rack. Bake the rest of the cookies in the same fashion.
