If I could have a phone conversation with the New York Times Dining and Wine (as though NYTimes were a casual friend/maybe date), it would go a little something like this:
NYTimes: (after 4 rings) Hello?
Joy: Hey! Oh, I didn’t think you were going to pick up. I was expecting to leave a message. I thought you’d be a work.
NYTimes: You specifically called when you thought I’d be at work?
Joy: (Awkward pause) No….. I just thought I could leave a message.
NYTimes: Well do you want me to hang up so you can call back? You’re being weird…
Joy: No!…. It’s just… NYTimes, we need to talk.
NYTimes: You know what Joy? I’m not really in the mood for this right now. I have to be up early tomorrow and I really don’t want to get into anything right now.
Joy: Well that’s too bad NYTimes, we need to talk right now.. It’s about your cookies. Just listen. Seriously. It’s important…
Joy: (continued) I like that you like food. I can tell that you’re totally into it. That’s cool… It really is. But you know what? Sometimes a cookie is just a cookie. (Pause) Sometimes we should let a cookie just be a cookie.
Don’t get me wrong- I really like that you like to sprinkle sea salt on top of cookie dough. That’s respectable, and has a certain amount of charm. I’m not talking about that… I’m talking about this 36 hour rule for resting cookie dough. You know what? I’m going to say something that I don’t think anyone else will say to your face…
NYTimes: (interrupting) We aren’t face to face. This is over the phone. And this is an imaginary conversation. And I’m the NYTimes, so I don’t have a face.
Joy: Ok.. you know what? That’s not the point, and don’t interrupt me. Your 36 hour rule- I don’t buy it. I’m not in. In fact- I’m out. Why? Well to be honest, I couldn’t taste a difference. The 24 hour and 36 hour batched baked up slightly darker than the 12 hour batch, but I couldn’t decipher a taste difference. In fact, I didn’t find any difference at all between the 24 and 36 hour batches. I mean… come on… for the average person, eating a warm cookie from the oven is treat enough. Why even suggest that they wait 36 hours to bake up the dough? Who has that kind of time NYTimes. Seriously!?
NYTimes: (impatiently) Well what do you want me to do?
Joy: Well I don’t know what you can do. What’s printed is printed, right? I just wanted to call and talk to you so that you know that I know that sometimes you come up with some snotty cooking crap. Sometimes you take something as friendly, straightforward, and approachable as a chocolate chip cookie and you put it on a pedestal and talk about things like depth of flavor and flavor profiles and crumb… and geez! Can’t a cookie just be a cookie?
NYTimes: You’re yelling…
Joy: I’m not yelling! I’m just being passionate. I’m just saying that I’m on to you. I did the experiment myself, and a cookie is a cookie at 12 hours, 24 hours and 36 hours. A damn good, all -American cookie, that’s what is it.
Now, I don’t mean to be harsh. I just had to get that off my chest. Would you please put Mark Bittman on the phone? I like him.
NYTimes: Joy, you’re odd.
Joy: I know. Bittman please.
After much trial and refridgeration. I’ve found these to be my two favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.
The Chewy, with melted butter and bread flour, from Alton Brown.
The Buttery, with creamed butter and salted peanuts or cashews, from Elizabeth Faulkner.
I chill each dough for at least 4 hours before baking. Of course, refrigerate the dough for up to 36 hours if you like. I’ll create an evenly golden cookie, with all the goodness that is the perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie.
July 14th, 2008 at 4:06 am
A cookie is just a cookie…damn straight!
July 14th, 2008 at 4:17 am
That was one of the funniest food blog posts I have ever read! And I so love the fact that you did this experiment and shared your results with all of us. Because I was secretly hoping I wouldn’t have to wait 36 hours for some slam dunk cookies!
July 14th, 2008 at 4:51 am
You are hilarious! Thanks for doing the experiment. I don’t think that I could ever purposely wait 36 hours to bake up the cookies. And I agree about “The Chewy” being one of the best recipes there is. Well done!
July 14th, 2008 at 5:08 am
Haha. I totally agree with you. I think this collection of posts was great, loved it. Thanks.
July 14th, 2008 at 6:40 am
Okay, that was too funny! Great post. I have been waiting for the final results - thanks for taking the time to put their theory to the test since I wouldn’t bother to do that myself. I’m glad to know that Alton’s chewy is still one of the best out there. Keep up the good work. BTW - are we going to see anymore podcasts? The first one was great.
July 14th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Haha. Joy, you rock. Thanks so much for your always insightful, entertaining perspective. Thanks also for taking the time to debunk the NY Times. I know my wife appreciates that I won’t not be tempted to build in a one day delay into our cookies now.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Great blog! And thanks for taking one for the team and performing these culinary experiments.
That having been said, I finally made these myself and really enjoyed them, salt and all. I waited the full 36 hours, so I have no idea if they would have been just as good after 12, but I did wind up liking them even more than AB’s “The Chewy”. They were crisp on the outside and chewy inside, sort of the ideal texture.
BTW, if you want to yell at the NY Times, you can do so on this eGullet thread. The article’s author, David Leite, actually participates:
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=102308&st=120
July 14th, 2008 at 7:33 am
Yay! I’m so relieved to hear that someone else doesn’t buy the 36 hour rule…and you’ve saved me the time to check it out myself! No waiting 36 hours for cookies (who could???!)
July 14th, 2008 at 7:39 am
I can’t wait to try Alton Brown’s recipe! And I agree with others who commented on how funny this diatribe against a 36 hour wait for cookies was. It was pretty darn funny. Thanks for doing the hard work for us. (I’d never be able to wait that long.)
July 14th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Yeah, you tell them. Does chilling the dough for 4 hours make that much of a difference? I think I’d have to leave the house knowing that there’s a batch of cookie dough in my fridge for 4 hours.
July 14th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Hilarious!!! I am putting the AB recipe on my “to make” list.
July 14th, 2008 at 8:17 am
the cookies they pictured looked great, but that article was a little too much for me. any cookie recipe that takes two days to complete is not worth it in my view — negates one of the great things about cookies, which is that you can whip up a batch in half an hour! easy to make on the fly when you’re craving something easy and sweet.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:10 am
CASHEWS! In choc hhip cookies…oh, I have died and gone to heaven.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Yay! I’m delighted to hear that I will NOT have to wait a ridiculous 36 hours for some warm cookies. Thanks for doing the investigatory work for us!
July 14th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Haha, I love that conversation. And I’m glad to hear I don’t have to refrigerate the dough for 36 hours, because believe me, it wouldn’t last that long. I’d have eaten it all long before it even hit the 24 hour mark. Dang. I am SO stopping at the store and buying cookie dough on my way home. (don’t have the time or energy to make it…I know, I lose)
July 14th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
so happy to have found your blog–this whole thing cracked me up! (also got me thinking about baking some cookies today).
July 14th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Umm… 4, 12, 36 hours….WTF???!!! I’ve been baking chocolate chip cookies for over 20 years now and they go straight to the oven as soon as I finish mixing the chips (and nuts sometimes). The only time I put the dough in the fridge is because I’m preparing obsenne amounts of cookies for a bake sale. My cookies are yummy either way. In my experience, salt is what enhaces the flavors of the cookie.
By the way this was very funny I also though the NYT was a little snubbish with the cookies.
July 14th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
You’re nuts. Hot . . . adorable . . . but nuts!
July 14th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Oh, Joy!!!! That was HILARIOUS! Thank you for making my day and saving me 3 whole days of “experimenting”.
July 14th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
This was so much fun! So after all a cookie is just a cookie, hu? Well deep down I guess I knew it, I was just wondering. Thanks for the experiment, I’ll still do it, just for the sience of eating them, lol! Because that’s the best science, you know?
The color difference it’s just oxidation, don’t you think?
Aren’t you cookied out allready? But the little bastards do looks great anyway!
July 14th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
I LOVE IT!!! I agree, a cookie straight out of the oven is what it is all about!! Who in their right mind would make luscious chocolate chip cookie dough and leave it in the fridge for 36 hours??? Have they never eaten CC Cookie dough straight out of the bowl, mine wouldn’t get to the oven if I had to wait 36 hours. Thanks for a great read!!!
July 14th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Hilarious! Thanks for setting the record straight! I needed that!
Just let the cookies be cookies!
July 14th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
I agree - just let the cookie be the cookie! I love, love, love The Chewy. And I’ll try The Buttery because I love cashews.
July 15th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Joy, I’ve been following your CCC debate and I’m so tickled you wrote this piece. Hope Bittman reads it.
Sometimes a cookie is just a cookie.
Thanks also for actually going through the 36 hr bit. You’ve saved so many of us a lot of time and trouble.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Great post!! I am glad you tested the 36 hour rule. I was tempted to try it but I made the dough and couldn’t wait! I wanted my fresh baked cookies NOW!!! They were still heavenly coming out of the oven!!
July 15th, 2008 at 10:14 am
bwahahahahaha! “I’m not yelling! I’m just being passionate.” If I had a nickel every time I tried that line girlfriend…
When I read the NY Times article my thought was ‘there is no way choc chip cookie dough would last 36 hours in my house.’ Let’s be honest here. I’d pick, he’d pick, she’d pick. We’d all sneak and then I’d just end up wishing I had baked the damn things right away in the first place, heh
July 15th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Agreed, that was one of the funniest things I have ever read. Adding to this debate, I would like to say that these days alot of food items go through this same process. Why can’t we just revert to basics and keep things simple? Simple is how we grew to love it. Something as comforting as a chocolate chip cookie, should never veer too far off course from it’s original beginnings.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:45 am
If I even tried to wait 36 hours for cookies, there would be no dough left to bake.
Awesome series of posts, loved the dialogue.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Excellent! Now thanks to you we can all relax and just chill for a few hours. What a relief! I know I could never wait even 12 hours for those beauties…Thank you!!!
July 15th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Wonderful series, Joy, Thanks. And I’m absolutely in love with your writing!
July 15th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Obviously NY Times doesn’t have children. Try mixing up cookie dough with your two and a half your old (which I do on a weekly basis) and then tell him he can have it, no not tomorrow, the day after. Two sleeps. Forget it! That just won’t fly.
Thanks for all this. I just got caught up and boy am I glad I did.
A cookie is just a cookie.
July 15th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
thanks so much for doing the work so i don’t have to! when i read the article i thought “dang, now i’m going to have to test this.” and my kids are all grown and gone, which meant *I* would have to eat all the cookies. not that i’m complaining. still, since you did this, i can instead eat bread and pudding. thanks joy.
July 15th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I have my dough in the fridge, maybe tomorrow I’ll be the one calling the NYTimes!
July 15th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
‘Bittman please’ indeed! You and me both on the side of simplicity.
A great way to end the debate, I think, and a fitting testemony to the humbleness and honesty of a good cookie.
July 15th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Great set of posts! I didn’t buy the 36 hour rule…I’ve worked in several bakeries where giant batches of cookie dough hang out in the fridge, waiting to be used. The cookies that have chilled for 6 hours taste and look the same as the cookies that have chilled for 40 hours…they have to, it’s a bakery, consistency is required.
July 15th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
well, it’s good to know that a 4 hour chill will do just fine! you tell ‘em!
July 15th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
What a lovely post! I just found your blog and I love it! I was planning to try the 12-24-36 experiment myself and your post has given me just the motivation I needed. Great writing. Great pictures. Great blog. Go ‘head with your bad self.
July 15th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Got to your site off Tastespotting.
I love it! I was thinking the same things as I read the article. Not to mention that in my house, if I tried to rest the dough for more than 6 hours, my teenagers would eat it before anything was baked! Even if it’s in the fridge a few hours there is always a definite dent in the amount of dough.
My personal favorite is the Alton Brown Chewy recipe. But my husband is a good old Tollhouse fan, so I have to make those very once in a while to appease him.
July 16th, 2008 at 1:13 am
Joy, I put down my trashy summer novel to read all four cookie parts, and …I loved it! I can’t believe you did all this work. The last installment was the best. I loved the phone call between the NY Times and yourself freaking fantastic!
July 16th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Joy- I loved your “conversation”!!!
I am happy with your results. I can *manage* to not touch the dough for 4 hours, but 36 is really asking too much of me! And, I’ll be making the Alton Brown recipe tonight!
July 16th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Here here! What a stupid idea - resting cookie dough for 36 hours. Give me a break. I can barely plan my day as it is without adding in a damn batch of cookies.
July 17th, 2008 at 5:25 am
Bravo! Good for you! I’m going to do a family taste test with your fave recipe and ours…Maybe we’ll have a new fave.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Haha, I had a very powerful conversation with the chocolate chip cookie itself a couple of months back!
http://sarahcentric.com/2008/03/18/c-cubed/
Great post…that Times article was very big around the office a couple of days ago…
-Sarah
July 17th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
1) Are you freaking kidding me?! If there are more 2 more Jacksons out there..well, I don’t even know! Are you and your sister anywhere in this family photo?
http://sarahcentric.com/2008/04/10/theres-a-middle-way/
I am so excited our blogs have finally found each other and fallen in love! It’s like they always said; you’ll find your blog soulmate when you’re least expecting it.
2) Matt Sloan, Matt Sloan…hmm. Comedy Central’er?
3) Please move to NY and teach me how to bake more than the three things I am comfortable baking in this small apt.
-Sarah
3) Matt Sloan
July 18th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Damn!! I could have sworn there was enough room on that couch for you and your sis. But I think my oldest brother’s hair took up too much room…
I can’t believe you’re going to bake so many cookies for me to sell at my next Comedy Central Charity bake-sale..why thank you!!!
You are excellent and I bet your cookies are too. Keep on keepin’ on…
Sarah
July 19th, 2008 at 10:04 am
What are the best chocochip cookies ever? That’s easy, the ones my grandmother made with the chocolate chips package recipe. In 47 years I’ve never tasted better.
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I left you a little award on my blog! Have a great week!
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:06 pm
hahaha! I love it! AB’s cookie recipe (just about AB’s anything recipe, really) is one of my favorites. I enjoyed reading your experiments. Thanks for keeping us informed. I don’t know what we’d do without you! =)
July 29th, 2008 at 7:34 am
[...] I made a small batch after mixing and another 24 hours later. I will say the ones refrigerated 24 hours produced a more uniform cookie. I am thinking this would apply to most cookie dough. You can see Joy’s test of time here. [...]
December 5th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Cool!!!!
April 15th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
I know I’m late here, but this was a great blog. I love ‘Good Eats’, and anything that explains every little nuance about cooking and learning how to make things I make a little bit better, but sometimes it goes too far. I will agree that AB’s chewy recipe is great, and refrigerating the dough for a few hours is a good practice, but a fresh cookie is a fresh cookie! Nice work on your ‘report’!
June 9th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
So I know this is an older discussion but I’m new to your blog. Enjoyed reading through this one. For the record, in my opinion, I don’t care if the cookies are flat and crispy or thick and chewey as long as the chips are melted and gooey throughout the whole cookie. For me, that is the magic of a chocolate chip cookie. I rarely make them though. I make the ones my Mom always made me when I was a kid-banana chocolate chip cookies. They are the smell of summertime for me.