cookies & imaginary French friends

Back in 2002, I was just 14 and still fairly inexperienced in the kitchen…but every Thursday evening I felt like a master. Even though it was after the glory days of Julia, Chocolate with Jacques Torres held it’s own well before Emeril and Rachel Ray ever hit the foodie scene—back in the good old days when Iron Chef was still in Japanese and no one had ever heard of it. But I digress…the point is that as soon as I heard the rich French accent of Monsieur Torres, I felt like I could bake anything! When it got pulled off the air, I was inconsolable.

Fast forward 10 years and there I was, completely thrilled to have stumbled across this recipe for Torres’ own Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies. However, post-jail Martha seems to have become a little unreliable (sorry!). But I forged on with full confidence in my old friend Jacques. Now, I don’t know whose pants are on fire for this one (liar, liars), but this is definitely not Jacques’ best-kept secret. Don’t get me wrong, the cookies are great…dense and packed with chocolate. But they are far too sweet (especially for a traditional French palette) and the recipe made almost 8 batches. 8 batches, ladies. My kitchen looks an episode of Hoarders filmed at Cookie Monster’s house!

Anyways, I’ve been giving away these great-but-not-perfect cookies all weekend and silently pondering over the recipe. So I looked and again and was steered back on to the right path by the trusty Bakerella. She posted this link to the real Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies and upon further inspection, it seems to have everything mine were lacking: altogether much less dough and a salt sprinkle to balance all the sweetness. Once I finish pawning off graciously sharing the dozens of cookies I still have at home, these will definitely by my take-2!

On the plus, while I was hand chopping the pound of chocolate Martha’s recipe called for, I felt just like my girl Juliette Binoche in Chocolat…probably one of my top 3 favorite movies of all time. If you have somehow managed not to see it yet…I’ll quote Gandalf and say, “Fly, you fools!” But seriously, go watch it now…and buy yourself some fancy chocolates to snack on while you watch (that’s an important part).

So tell me…do you have an amazing secret chocolate chip cookie recipe?

And what makes the worlds best chocolate chip cookie in your opinion?
Thin and crispy, big and cakey, dense and fudgy? I’m partial to the slightly undercooked fudgy kind.