Recipes and food adventures with Adam Roberts

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The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie in the World

How many cookies does the average person eat over the course of a lifetime? 500? 5,000? 5 MILLION?

I’m not sure but since life is short, I believe it’s important to make your cookies count. Cracking open a box of Chips Ahoy might scratch an itch much like sleeping with a prostitute probably scratches a different sort of each. Neither is a good idea but people do it. I say, if you’re going to eat a chocolate chip cookie, there’s only one cookie to eat and that’s the best chocolate chip cookie in the entire world, the chocolate chip cookie at The City Bakery in New York.

This isn’t hyperbole, this is fact. I’ve eaten cookies all across the country, all around the world. I’ve had the famous Levain Bakery flying saucer of a chocolate chip cookie several times. I’ve had chocolate chip cookies in Atlanta, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco. I’ve had chocolate chip cookies that I’ve made myself, in many different ways.

But none comes close to the City Bakery cookie. What makes it so good? David Leite tried to find out in this now legendary New York Times article. It boils down to this: Maury Rubin (City Bakery’s owner) lets the cookie dough age for 36 hours and he makes large cookies so the cookies form three different textures.

I’ve tried this at home many times and though both techniques yield excellent cookies, nothing ever comes close to the cookie you get at City Bakery. I have theories about that, theories that some might call conspiracy theories. One: City Bakery uses a special flour that no one else can get because it’s so special. Two: Maury Rubin is a wizard.

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Maybe it has something to do with his ovens. Maybe it has something to do with his cookie sheets. The cookies are crisp on the outside, moist in the middle, and taste vaguely nutty. If I could only eat one cookie for the rest of my life it would be this cookie.

Part of me is glad that I can’t make this at home because if I really knew how, I probably wouldn’t make anything else. Suffice it to say, if you’re ever in New York, a visit to City Bakery is mandatory. Make sure to buy two cookies: one for you, and one to ship to me. It’s the right thing to do.

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15 responses to “The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie in the World”

  1. Taylor Avatar
    Taylor

    Im kind of glad that I have never had these before…I would feel like every cookie thereafter was…less. Im going to try letting to dough sit in the fridge as suggested. Outside of that, the one thing I do with my chocolate chip cookies that makes them miles better is brown the butter. That is what I find gives it the nutty flavor and helps the cookies get that good chewiness to them. Also, a mix of milk and super dark chocolate chips.

    Reply
  2. Julie Haduong Avatar
    Julie Haduong

    I used to make my cookies with room temp butter, but I found that the modifications to make the most magical chocolate chip cookies are:melted butter so that the sweetness is evenly spread from white to browna greater ratio of brown sugar to white sugar than in normal cookie recipesan extra yolkthe best chocolate you can getat least 12 hrs in the fridge (to meld the flavors and re-solidify the butter)more vanilla extractthese changes typically yield (at least for me) a slightly nutty, butterscotch-esque flavor, which definitely makes eating only one cookie impossible.10 minutes in a 350 degree oven should do the trick.and the batch of cookies usually disappears in the blink of an eye!

    Reply
  3. Wendy Russo Avatar
    Wendy Russo

    I imagine this is the first time Chips Ahoy have been likened to a prostitute. 😉

    Reply
  4. Bianca Garcia Avatar
    Bianca Garcia

    I will make sure to try this cookie next time I’m in NYC! Thanks for the tip 🙂

    Reply
  5. Uh Avatar
    Uh

    The difference between the best chocolate chip cookie you ever had and the worst one isn’t enough to spit at.

    Reply
  6. janice Avatar
    janice

    Oh but what about the Jacques Torres CC cookie? And the fact that you can always get one warm? My boss and I refer to these as “crack cookies”. We can’t keep away. I’ve tried….I just….can’t.

    Reply
  7. MC Avatar
    MC

    I’m afraid to try it. I might die from its awesomeness. But I will try it. I will.

    Reply
  8. Lynn Chen Avatar
    Lynn Chen

    My husband agrees! I can’t remember though…haven’t had it in 7 years…

    Reply
  9. nanospydercom Avatar
    nanospydercom

    Pullman hotels hav the really awesome chocolate chip cookies… Try it out

    Reply
  10. lisa g. Avatar
    lisa g.

    Wheres the recipe please! Thanks.

    Reply
  11. C Shannon Avatar
    C Shannon

    I know this article came out like 9 years ago but does anyone actually have a recipe that produces a cookie that tastes like and looks like the City Bakery Chocolate Chip cookie? I think the aging of the dough and making large size cookies helps a LOT but I’ve yet to see a photo of a cookie that really looks like a City Bakery Chocolate Chip cookie. Any recipes out there? (I’m kind of bummed Maury Rubin hasn’t shared it. ).. Thanks. Chet Shannon

    Reply
    1. Adam Roberts Avatar
      Adam Roberts

      I agree! It was the best cookie of my life. I wonder if we can track him down?

      Reply
  12. sle Avatar
    sle

    I know this article was ages ago, and I just found it and I couldn’t agree more! It is indeed the best. Crispy on the outside and moist in the inside and the taste of the flours… oh. And I am really sad that they closed.

    Reply
  13. Trisha Avatar
    Trisha

    The New York Times “Crinkled Chocolate Chip Cookie” is pretty damn close to City Bakery cookies- although I’d probably say to add some sea salt.

    Reply
  14. Joanne Avatar
    Joanne

    City Bakery is closed, so those cookies are no longer available. Boohoo.

    Reply

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