elinor klivans' essential chocolate chip cookies

Have you heard of baker and cookbook author Elinor Klivans? I'm ashamed to admit I hadn't until my aunt mentioned her. She is the sister-in-law of my aunt's good friend, and she has written tons of cookbooks! She is apparently well-known to many home bakers, and I'm hoping to check out one of her cookbooks soon. In the meantime, I Googled her and discovered the cover recipe for her book The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook. You have to think if you're going to write an entire book about chocolate chips, the cover recipe should be the gold standard. Besides, they look delicious and each cookie supposedly holds 50 chocolate chips. (OK, that might be just a teensy bit insane.)

Well, mine looked a lot like the cover picture, and they tasted delicious. In fact, they had a little too much chocolate for me (though it feels sacreligious to say that), but the cookie itself was tasty, chewy but a little crisp around the edges, and had those great caramel notes that a good chocolate chip cookie has. They have less sugar and (as mentioned) way more chocolate than many recipes. I would definitely try these again.

Choc-Full of Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies


1 1/4 cups (5 1/4 ounces) flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) brown sugar
6 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups (24 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips


Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two cookie sheets with silpats or parchment paper.


Measure the flour, baking soda, and salt into a small bowl, and whisk it around just a little.


With the mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until smoothly blended, about 1 minute. Add the egg and vanilla, and blend well, about 1 minute. Slowly add the flour mixture, beating just until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.


Scoop the batter onto the baking sheets giving them plenty of room to spread. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until they are lightly brown on the edges and the centers are golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 10 minutes, and then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling. The cookies will flatten as they cool.