Pride and Discos

Confession: I am prideful in the kitchen. I will spend the money on good ingredients (even for something so simple as chocolate chip cookies) because I desire your awe that badly. This approval seeking behavior (I am calling myself out) has prompted me to ask for the same thing for Christmas for the past two years in a row: an 11-pound box of El Rey 70% cacao discos. We are talking chocolate... and dark chocolate to be specific. These discos compose one of my staple food groups: rarely a day goes by that I do not have a least a few discos in the afternoon, and right before a test, I always up the dosage (for a jolt of focus and drive perhaps? anyway, it has become somewhat of a ritualistic eating that I am sure does something positive to my brain). These discos go in most anything I bake and I guarantee they are (almost) solely responsible for any stellar outcomes of my baking ventures. Here is a recipe for my favorite chocolate chip cookie thus far (widely circulated amongst food blogs as the New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie, with a few personal changes of course).

New York Times Cookie


2 cups minus 2 tablespoons
(8 ½ ounces) cake flour


1 2/3 cups (8 ½ ounces) bread flour


1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda


1 ½ teaspoons baking powder


2 teaspoons coarse salt


2 ½ sticks (1 ¼ cups) unsalted butter


1 ¼ cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar


1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar


2 large eggs


2 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract


1 ¼ pounds bittersweet disks (at least 60 percent cacao content)

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


Using a mixer fitted with 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. 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. Do not skip this refrigeration time- I promise they will taste better!

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

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.

The oh-so-memorable Pizookie also merits the use of fine chocolate (Callebaut chocolate chunks from Central Market this time). In case you have never heard of this dessert, let me explain. Traditionally, you unwrap a log of Tollhouse cookie dough and plop the whole log (yes, the whole log) onto a cookie sheet. You bake the log until just the outside is brown and crispy. As soon as it comes out of the oven, you drop large scoops of vanilla ice cream over it and hand everyone around you spoons. Out of respect for this slumber-party-perfect dessert, everyone attacks the tray at once (spreading happiness, not germs! better get over that germ thing real quick or you are certain to miss out). My best friend Paige introduced me to this gem while at Baylor and it has evolved over the years to something a little more grown up and decadent (owing its new glamour to the quality of the chocolate, of course). This upgraded Pizookie still works best when shared with good friends, all spoons attacking simultaneously.

Skillet Pizookie

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter


½ cup granulated sugar


½ cups light brown sugar


1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract


1 egg


1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda


½ teaspoon kosher salt


1 ¼ cups (awesome quality) chocolate chunks (semi-sweet or dark)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in an 8 inch cast iron skillet set over medium-low heat. Stir in sugars and vanilla and remove from heat. Let rest until pan is just warm, about 5 minutes.

Crack an egg onto the butter and sugar mixture, and use a fork to whisk it well into the mixture. Place flour, baking soda, and salt on top, and very carefully stir into the mixture until smooth. Fold in chocolate chunks. Place in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until starting to turn golden on the top and around the edges, but soft in the center. Watch this part (especially the last few minutes) through your oven window- you do not want the whole Pizookie actually cooked through, just the outside crispy! Serve with vanilla ice cream plopped right in the center.

(adapted from sophistimom)