Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been making chocolate chip cookies recently that have been a bit of a hit in these parts (I was pleased to know that they led to a fight between Esther's brother and sister). Now, that may be a simple result of the fact that the cookie market here is pretty dry.

What's my secret, you ask? The New York Times. They did a report looking for the best chocolate chip cookies and I've simply adapted that recipe to the ingredients that you can find in France. If you're in the US, simply follow the recipe as written in the times. Here's how I've adapted it to France:

• 480g flour
• 7g levure chimique (comes in little packets in the little baking installation in most supermarkets)
  
• 7g bicarbonate de sodium (comes in a blue and white box, often near the flour and starch)
  
• 10g salt
• 250g beurre doux
• 230g white sugar
  
• 270g cassonade (what we would call raw sugar, as close as it gets to brown sugar over here, is usually found next to the regular sugar in the supermarket)
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 10ml natural vanilla extract
  
• 500g chocolat pâtissier, at least 60% cocoa, cut into pieces (I use a mix of the darker and the lighter Nestle Dessert bars)
• sel de mer

Using those ingredients, follow the instructions as listed in the recipe. I typically make the cookies smaller, forming dough balls about the size of a ping-pong ball. I bake them at 170 degrees Celsius for about 13 minutes, without the convection fan.

There it is, that simple. And very delicious