i wish i had a cookie jar

i just made 2 batches (about 70 total) of chocolate chip cookies.

after the new york times printed commentary/recipes/archived articles on the humble cookie back in july, there were several weeks of debate on the best chocolate chip cookie recipe all over the food blogosphere.

at the time, i thought about joining in & testing batch after batch to find the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe. melted butter vs creamed. 12, 24, 36, or 0 hour chill in the fridge? chewy, crispy, soft....oh, the variations!

but it sounded like too much effort. & who would eat all those cookies? so, i decided to let everyone else do the work & i've been keeping tips aside for when i actually needed to make them.

from my research on others' bake tests, the jacque torres' chocolate chip cookie recipe (posted in the NY times) is a bit too sweet & too much waiting for results that are, essentially, equal to waiting 1/2 or less that time.

i've always baked the standard, almost instantly gratifying, mix-drop-voila version. since i needed to bake 2 batches anyway, i decided to try two variations:
1. melted butter & a chill in the fridge. (for a crisper cookie)
2. standard creaming method & straight into the oven (for a softer cookie).

result: although a bit more work & time, i think i'm going to do the melt & chill from now on. it produced a delicately crisp outside while maintaining a soft chewy inside (these are pictured above). the creaming method was delicious, but came out with a denser crumb...almost like cake, wich my mother preferred.