So, you may remember I received some pretty funky cookbooks for my birthday last month. I'm still deciding what to cook first from the Japanese ones - it's all just too pretty! - but there was no such indecision when it came to David Lebovitz' new one, Ready for Dessert. I haven't even read all of the book yet, but I knew that his chocolate chip cookies would have to be first thing I made. (Although technically these are second recipe I've made - I made his cheesecake brownies last year in July after he published the recipe on his blog). He's also posted up a cute video where he makes these cookies, and feeds them to unsuspecting Parisians, who, surprise surprise, think they're fabulous.

His cookies are quite similar to The Rock's chocolate chip cookies (minus the oats), and my favourite chocolate chip cookies.


David does have a few tips though, to make his cookies extra-special. He suggests that you don't overmix the butter and sugars, so that the mixture doesn't become aerated, as this will make the cookies spread when you bake them! The recipe calls for a mix of white and light brown sugars. I didn't have any light brown sugar, so I substituted a rich dark muscovado sugar.

He also suggests using a chopped bar of chocolate instead of chocolate chips. Chips are designed to hold their shape, and chopped chocolate will give you more melty goodness. I used a couple of bars of Lindt Excellence 50% cocoa dark chocolate. I quite like the 50% dark chocolate - it gives intensity without harsh bitterness.

Finally, the dough should rest for 24-hours in the fridge. Unfortunately, I did not have the patience for a whole 24 hours - I just left the dough in the fridge for a couple of hours until it was firm enough to slice.



They only take about 9 minutes to bake, at whcih time they will be golden brown and smelling delicious! They were quite soft on the tray, but firmed up as they cooled down. From the below photo, I can see that the cookies did spread a little, but not too much.


These were a-mazing! They're soft and chewy like a Mrs. Fields cookie, with a slight crunch around the edges. I was worried the dark muscovado sugar might be a little too dark, but it gave the cookies a wonderful caramelly flavour that complimented the walnuts perfectly. (You know, like that maple walnut flavour combo). I also loved how melty the chocolate was. Very decadent. I ate an insane amount the day I baked them, but after that common sense took over and we packed the rest up to take to work.

These will definitely be my go-to basic choc-chip cookie recipe from now on.