The Food Lab: The Science of the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

[Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt] "Stop making cookies." I'm sorry, what was that dear? "I said, stop making cookies." That's odd, I thought to myself. Then, as I glanced around the apartment, wiping chocolate-specked hands against my apron, running a finger across the countertop and tracing a line into the dusting of white powder that coated every surface in the kitchen, eyeing the dozens of bags of failed experimental cookies that blocked the television, opening the refrigerator door to discover that more than half of its contents were batches of uncooked cookie dough in various stages of rest, I thought, maybe she does have a point. For the past few months, I've had chocolate chip cookies on the brain. I'm talking chocolate cookies that are barely crisp around the edges with a buttery, toffee-like crunch You see, I've never been able to get a chocolate chip cookie exactly the way I like. Some have come close, but none have quite hit the mark. How Cookies Crumble The dough spreads:. Butter

silky smooth pumpkin pie Is pumpkin pie as we know it broken? This is what I was asking myself at 10 p.m. last night as I had words I will only express in asterisks going through my head as I was in my twentieth minute of trying to push a pumpkin pie filling through a very fine mesh strainer. The source of the recipe, as some of you may have guessed by now, was the November 2008 issue of Cook’s Illustrated, wherein seeking to make a more complex and less grainy pie, those clever people up in Vermont came to a few conclusions. Which pretty much brings us up to 10 p.m. But when I tried the pie today, all of my frustration and asterisked words dissipated. I rest my case. One year ago: Black Bean Pumpkin SoupTwo years ago: Chocolate Stout Cake Silky Smooth Pumpkin Pie Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, November & December 2008 A half-recipe of your favorite pie crust, chilled (Updated: My choice these days is my All-Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Remove pan from heat.

Lemon Blueberry Zucchini Bread w/Lemon Glaze My garden is in full bloom and I’m trying to keep up with all the yummy fresh vegetables. This year I downsized to one zucchini plant. Zucchinis grow like weeds for me. My first garden had six zucchini plants. Ingredients 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2 eggs 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2/3 cup sugar 1/2 cup buttermilk Juice of 1 lemon or 2 tbsp lemon juice Zest of 1 lemon 1 cup grated zucchini 1/2 to 1 cup of blueberriesLEMON GLAZE 1 cup powdered sugar Juice of 1 lemon or 2 tbsp lemon juiceDirections Preheat oven to 35o ⁰F.