Giant Crinkled Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 10 large cookies.
Note: Adapted from Sarah Kieffer and the New York Times.
• 2 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1/4 c. packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate (about 60 percent cacao solids), chopped into coarse pieces, bits and shards
Directions
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt, and reserve.
In a bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter until creamy. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add egg, vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons water, and mix until combined. Add flour mixture and mix until combined. Stir in chocolate. (At this point, dough can be refrigerated overnight. If dough is refrigerated overnight, skip the freezer instructions that follow.)
Form dough into 3 1/2-ounce balls, a heaping 1/3 cup each. Place 4 dough balls an equal distance apart on a prepared baking sheet, and transfer baking sheet to the freezer for 15 minutes before baking. (After you put the first baking sheet in the oven, put the second one in the freezer.) Place the chilled baking sheet in the oven and bake 10 minutes, until cookies are puffed slightly in the center.
Lift the baking sheet and let it drop down against the oven rack, so the edges of the cookies set and the inside falls back down. (This will feel wrong, but it's not.) Bang the baking sheet down, if necessary, to make the centers fall.
After the cookies puff up again, 2 to 3 minutes later, repeat lifting and dropping the baking sheet. Repeat a few more times, every 2 to 3 minutes, to create ridges around the cookies' edge. Bake until cookies have spread out and the edges are golden brown, but the centers are much lighter and not fully cooked, about 16 to 18 minutes in total.
Remove from oven and transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack. Cool cookies on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining cookies, using the first baking sheet for the third batch of cookies.
