Nigella Chocolate Chip Cookies

You’ve probably gathered that I’m a cookbook addict. Really, I have a problem. Whereas some women collect shoes, I collect cookbooks. I have a baker’s rack that houses two full shelves of cookbooks. There is a stack on my counter that reaches up to the bottom of the cabinets. I have thousands of untried recipes at my disposal, and that doesn’t include what’s available on the internet.

But it’s not just an empty addiction, or a penchant for gathering more and more of something. I love to sit down with a cookbook and a cup of tea or coffee, and read an afternoon away – that’s right, I read my cookbooks. I commune with them. They aren’t just pretty kitchen decor. From the introduction to each story and recipe, I read them the same way I read any good novel or memoir – word for word.

Cookbooks inspire me. Not only that, they help me feel connected to other people who love their kitchens the way I do. Any really great cookbook provides not only great recipes, but snapshots of its author, the person wielding the spoon or spatula. It will bring you into the life of another person through his or her cooking. Some cookbooks are better at this than others, and British home chef Nigella Lawson’s cookbooks are among my favorites.

Throughout the fall, I had been eyeing Nigella’s latest cookbook, Nigella Kitchen, at the bookstore. Her eighth or ninth volume of recipes, Nigella Kitchen focuses on the dishes she cooks for her own family – the recipes she can’t live without. When it went on sale at half price after the holidays, I eschewed Amazon and bought it at Barnes & Noble instead. I spent the next few weeks laughing at her kitchen advice, considering her equipment suggestions, and slowly making my way through each recipe.

I was surprised, however, when I got to her recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Seriously, Nigella, I thought, do you really think we all need a re-do of the chocolate chip cookie? But Nigella, recognizing that there are plenty of “good” standby chocolate chip cookie recipes, not least the recipe so easily found on the back of the good ol’ Nestle Toll House chocolate chip bag, justifies her reasons:

“You’d think a plain cookie with a few chocolate chips folded into the mixture would be a simple matter. It’s not,” she writes. “It’s never difficult to make, just difficult to get right. I may be picky, but to my mind, or my mouth, a cookie that’s too crisp feels dry and disappointing, and a cookie that’s too chewy tastes like dough. I want a bit of tender, fudgy chewiness, but an edge of crisp bite, too.”

These cookies are everything Nigella describes. One batch down, and I resolved never to question her sanity again.

I was surprised at some of the very minute yet specific differences from the standard chocolate chip cookie recipes found in just about every other general cookbook – I didn’t think such tiny details could make such a huge difference. But baking is science, after all, and every step counts. It’s sort of like a chemistry experiment – deviate from the order of things, and you may face an explosion or, at the very least, a failed reaction. Shortcuts don’t award much, either.

Nigella uses melted butter, for example, and one egg plus one egg yolk instead of two eggs (egg temperature is also specified as “refrigerator cold”). The ratio of white sugar to brown is different, and she uses superfine white sugar. She omits salt but uses twice the vanilla. The oven temperature is lower, and the baking time is longer. She calls specifically for milk chocolate chips rather than semi-sweet, but of course, where chocolate is concerned, it’s a matter of taste.

The one thing she doesn’t insist on is whisking together the dry ingredients before adding them to the batter, and I have to say I’m a stickler for that. It ensures that the smaller amounts of ingredients like baking soda and salt get thoroughly distributed throughout the dough. So I added that step – it just makes me more comfortable, knowing it’s there.

Overall, I was amazed at the results. The flavor and texture are worth paying attention to every detail – including having the patience to let the cookies rest on the pan for five minutes after they come out of the oven and keeping the dough in the refrigerator between batches.

I’ll never go back to the Nestle Toll House recipe. I did, however, change a couple of things going into my second batch. But just two. I added 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt (maybe I’m alone in this, but I noticed the absence of salt – and I think a good cookie needs a little bit of salt) and I ended up switching to dark chocolate chips. When you’re a dark chocolate person, you’re a dark chocolate person.

Nigella Chocolate Chip Cookies


1-1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted sweet cream butter, melted and cooled slightly
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white superfine sugar (if you don’t have superfine sugar, just give regular sugar a few pulses in the blender or food processor – voila!)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 large egg plus one egg yolk, “refrigerator-cold”
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 ounces dark chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a mixer, beat together the sugars and melted butter until well combined.

Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

With the mixer running on the lowest speed, slowly add the dry ingredients a little at a time, until fully incorporated.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Using a 1/4 cup measure or a large cookie scoop (if you don’t have one, I highly recommend you get one immediately via Crate & Barrel or The Pampered Chef – your cookie baking will be forever improved), drop cookies onto the prepared baking sheet about three inches apart.

Bake 15-17 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and let rest for five minutes before using a spatula to move the cookies to a cooling rack. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container or zippered plastic bag.