Happy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Week!

I was surprised to learn that there is such a thing as Chocolate Chip Cookie Week, but it is so. And it is the second week of March. I was looking for a cookie recipe to take to my class since a student suggested I needed to bring in cookies to class (it was offered tongue-in-cheek but I figure they'll appreciate it since I'm also giving them a quiz).

I went in search of an awesome recipe. I have big shoes to fill since the woman who invented the cookie was Mrs. Ruth Wakefield at the Toll House Inn. Apparently she got a lifetime supply of chocolate from Nestle for all her trouble. Sigh...if only... But this time I got fancy with the chocolate. An unusual trip to Big Lots (previously one of my favorite stores) left me with pounds of soon-to-expire Scharffen Berger. Right now there are like 12 bags of bittersweet and semi-sweet chunks in my pantry. That's in addition to the four bags of bittersweet I used in these cookies. I see lots of ganache in my future.

I decided to find the best recipe available. I usually go with the Nestle Toll House recipe, because that's what Phoebe's grandmother used.

But I wanted to make sure I had the best ever recipe. Fortunately, someone else did the hard work and I got to reap the benefits. The winning recipe was David Lebovitz's recipe, which calls for chilling the dough for at least 24 hours before baking. Something about liquids and proteins in the eggs. I don't try to understand the science of baking, I just appreciate the magic.

They turned out pretty good and the bittersweet chocolate was a nice touch. I hope my students like them tomorrow. And that they studied metamorphic rocks.