the duel for the best chocolate chip cookie

once upon a time when i was a young designer at holt renfrew in toronto, i worked with a lovely woman named martha. one day in a casual conversation i mentioned to martha that i baked the best chocolate chip cookies. it really wasn’t an arrogant statement, but rather one supported by a long list of great reviews. but martha said hmmm... i believe i make the best chocolate chip cookies. what type of chocolate do you use, she asked. well, no point of arguing without having the proof at hand, she said, let’s have a best-cookie challenge.

of course, chocolate being an important part of such a cookie, it goes without saying that its quality is with great impact. i used a good quality brand, but nothing particularly special. but rather than feeling defeated by this simple question, i took on martha’s challenge.

on the specified challenge date we both showed up with our batches of cookies at hand and were soon surrounded by the rest of our department. i tended my box for her to take one of my cookies, and she tended hers for me to take one.

after my first bite into her cookie, i simply said "okay, you win" — “now you have to give me the recipe!” and so, here is that infamous winning recipe. i haven’t made it as often in recent years, but every time i do it is greatly appreciated. of course if you love chocolate chip cookies, you may already have a famous recipe of your own... but give this one a try. the last time i made the “other cookie” recipe was on the day of the challenge. this one here is definitely a winner.

and wherever you are martha, i thank you again for raising a challenge and graciously sharing your winning recipe. i think of you every time i make it!

toblerone oatmeal cookies

ingredients

3/4 cups ~ 187.5ml -unsalted butter -soften

1.25 cup ~ 312.5ml -brown sugar

1 -egg

1/4 cup ~ 62.5ml -orange juice

1 tsp ~ 5ml -pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp ~ 2ml -salt -omit if using salted butter

1/4 tsp ~ 1ml -baking soda

1 cup ~ 250ml -flour

3 cups ~ 750ml -rolled oats

200g -toblerone chocolate -chopped into chunky pieces

100g -toblerone white chocolate -use another kind if you can’t find white toblerone

a note about chocolate: this recipe is amazing because it uses toblerone chocolate which has nougat and almonds in it. so please make sure not to substitute. also please note that you don’t have to use white chocolate at all as this was my added touch at some point over the years. you can simply use 300g of regular toblerone (a huge bar is 400g).

make sure to cut the toblerone chocolate into nice chunky pieces to your taste.

your batter will be very thick, and after the chocolate is in, very chunky as well.

• preheat oven to 350ºF / 175ºC

• mix butter until fluffy, then beat in sugar, egg, orange juice and vanilla extract.

• in a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking soda.
• then add to the butter mixture.

• once this batter is well mixed and looking smooth, add the rolled oats.
• the batter will seem very thick, so add the oats one cup at a time.

• lastly add your chocolate chunks, but not all at once either.

• place 1 tbsp of batter for each cookie on a baking sheet ideally covered with parchment paper. i find baking is perfect when using parchment

• bake 10 to 12 minutes (depending on your oven).

ovens vary greatly and unless you have an extra thermometer to confirm its temperature, you have to monitor the first batch you put in. this baking time is quite accurate so if you like your cookies a bit chewier, then 10 to 11 minutes will do the trick. if however you prefer them crunchier, 11 to 12 minutes it is. these cookies however will sing much better on your palette on the chewier side. enjoy!

please let me know if you enjoy these cookies by leaving me a comment ~ thanks!