The Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

How is October already almost over? This month flew by! While everyone seems to be heavily in the Halloween spirit by now (or for some, the spirit started Labor Day weekend), Brian and I are a bit behind. We have no pumpkins, decorations, or costumes, due in part to our recent vacation.

We do have candy, which is, arguably, all that really matters for this holiday (at least for the kids).

If you can still see through all the orange and black and witches and ghosts, there are several other celebrations going on in October besides Halloween. So today we're focusing on the fact that October is National Cookie Month!

Seriously! Google it.

In honor of this sweet celebration, whip up a batch of these incredible chocolate chip cookies for you, your family, your friends. These are life changing, too; it was the first time in my history of baking cookies that they all came out perfectly soft, chewy, cakey, and melty.

Dotting the dough balls with a few chips before they bake makes them turn out very pretty. If you're into having good-looking cookies...

The key is leaving the dough in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. In doing our research on why this recipe was better than the classic Nestle cookie recipe, we found the instruction to chill the dough for one or two days at a time was somehow lost in translation.

But now, the secret has resurfaced. So - chill the dough!

For at least 24 hours.

Maybe 48.

Did I mention to chill the dough?

PS - Cup of Jo thinks they're the best, too.

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The Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from The New York Times

• 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
• 1 ⅔ cups bread flour
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 ½ sticks (1 ¼ cups) unsalted butter
• 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
• 1 cups bittersweet or dark chocolate chips or disks, at least 60 percent cacao content
• 1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips 
• Sea salt

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

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment (KitchenAid), 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.

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

4. Scoop 3 ½ 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, 15 to 20 minutes, depending on your oven. 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.

5. Eat warm, with a big napkin, and a tall glass of milk.