New York Times’ Thin-and-Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe Review
There was an emergency craving for chocolate chip cookies in our house this past weekend. Not our usual chunky and chewy cookies, either. These had to be flat. And crispy, definitely crispy. Hey, who are we to argue with a craving?
We’ve had this recipe for “Thin-and-Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies” from the New York Times bookmarked for a while now. It originally appeared in an an article by Amanda Hesser alongside recipes for “Flat-and-Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies” and “Thick-and-Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies.” All of these cookies have their merits, of course. But this weekend, we were interested in the thin and crisp version.
As far as chocolate chip cookies recipes go, this one seemed pretty standard. No unusual ingredients or complicated baking instructions. The recipe contains a few tablespoons of corn syrup, which is often included in recipes to make the finished product softer and fudgier. (We substituted cane syrup in its place.) The most labor-intensive part is probably chopping the bittersweet chocolate into pieces.
Out of the oven, these cookies seemed…odd. I can honestly say that these cookies were unlike any other cookie I’ve ever made. They were almost like a cross between lace cookies (like these) and a regular flour-based cookie. There were actual holes perforating the entire cookie, and even as I slid them off the cookie sheet, the edges were flaking off and crackling.
Despite this, the cookies were surprisingly sturdy – and crazy delicious. The smaller pieces of chopped chocolate melted into the cookie, making it more of a chocolate-chocolate cookie than a chocolate chip cookie. The flaky parts dissolved instantly on our tongues while the centers had a satisfying crunch. Best of all, each bite finished with an alluring saltiness that, instead of tasting strange, just made us want another bite. And another. And another.
While these weren’t exactly the “thin and crisp” chocolate chip cookies we’d been expecting, they were still some incredible cookies. They came together quickly and satisfied our craving for something sweet after dinner. Definitely a recipe to keep around.
• Recipe Note: In putting together this post, I stumbled across the probable explanation for why these cookies turned out so flat and crispy. After much searching through the New York Times archive, I found (what I think is) Amanda Hesser’s original article and recipes. In this article, the Thin and Crisp cookies used 1 3/4 cups of flour, as opposed to the 1 cup of flour in the version I had saved. This would definitely make a difference! I like my version so much, though, I may not go back. Both recipes are below.
• Get The Recipe We Used: Thin and Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies from the New York Times
• Get the Original Recipe + Article: The Arsenal by Amanda Hesser
Oh, and the crispy bits that flaked off? I’ll give you one guess what we’re going to do with them. It starts with “ice” and ends with “cream.”
(Image: Emma Christensen)