Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies Dipped in Chocolate

When The New York Times published Jacques Torres' chocolate chip cookie recipe in 2008, home bakers immediately fell in love with its unique combination of bread flour and cake flour, oversized dark chocolate chunks, and long chilling time. More than 15 years later, it's still considered one of the most famous chocolate chip cookie recipes ever published.

I first made these cookies years ago to see if they really lived up to the hype. They absolutely did. While the dough requires a little planning because of the long chill time, the payoff is incredible—crisp edges, chewy centers, and rich pools of melted chocolate in every bite.

Then I watched Jacques Torres make these same cookies on both The Rachael Ray Show and Good Morning America. He brushed the bottoms of the baked cookies with melted bittersweet chocolate before letting them set, and I immediately knew I had to try it. It's an easy finishing touch that makes these already famous cookies look even more elegant and adds one more layer of rich chocolate flavor.

What Makes Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies So Famous?

Jacques Torres is a world-renowned French pastry chef and chocolatier, but many home bakers know him best for this iconic chocolate chip cookie recipe. After it was published by The New York Times, the recipe quickly became one of the most baked—and most talked about—cookie recipes in America.

Unlike traditional chocolate chip cookies, these cookies use a blend of bread flour and cake flour, premium bittersweet chocolate, and a dough that chills for at least 24 hours before baking. The result is a cookie with crisp golden edges, chewy centers, and incredible depth of flavor.

Why You'll Love These Cookies

• Bakery-quality results. Crisp edges, chewy centers, and rich pools of bittersweet chocolate make these cookies worthy of any bakery display case.
• Rich, developed flavor. Chilling the dough allows the ingredients to fully hydrate and creates a deeper, more complex flavor than traditional chocolate chip cookies.
• Easy to make. While the dough needs time to chill, the recipe itself is straightforward and beginner-friendly.
• An elegant finishing touch. Brushing the bottoms with melted chocolate isn't required, but it makes these famous cookies even more decadent.

What Makes Jacques Torres Cookies Different?

Several things set Jacques Torres' recipe apart from an ordinary chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Instead of using all-purpose flour alone, he combines bread flour and cake flour to create cookies with the perfect balance of chewiness and tenderness.

The dough is also chilled for 24 to 72 hours, giving the flavors time to fully develop before baking.

Finally, the recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate with at least 60% cacao, creating large pools of rich chocolate throughout every cookie.

What People Are Saying

The best chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve ever made. This is the second batch of these I’ve made, and they come out bakery-beautiful every time! ---Olivia

I made these sugar-free using monk fruit and sugar-free brown sugar. These are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made! I put the dough in the fridge for an hour. This recipe is a keeper! I put flaked salt after I baked them, not before. ---Suzanne

Tips for Making The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Jacques shared a few tips on Good Morning America for making his world-famous cookies.

1. Use two types of flour. After testing different flour ratios, Jacques determined that equal weights of bread flour and cake flour produced the best texture. This produces an elastic dough and a perfectly chewy cookie. In the ingredients list you'll notice that they aren't the same measurement, that's because one flour weighs more than the other. If you weigh out the ingredients they weigh the same, but the cup measurements are different.
2. Use good chocolate. Jacques uses large chocolate discs, but chopped chocolate bars, bittersweet chocolate chips, or chocolate chunks also work well. Look for bittersweet or dark chocolate with at least 50% cacao. I use chopped baking chocolate in the cookie dough for larger pools of chocolate and dark chocolate chips for the melted coating on the bottoms.
3. Chill the dough. This is something I don't typically do because I'm an impatient baker, but it truly elevates these cookies. Chilling the dough allows the flour to hydrate and the flavors to deepen. For the best results, chill the dough for at least 24 hours. It can remain refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
4. Bake on light-colored baking sheets. All of my baking times are tested using light-colored metal cookie sheets. Dark baking sheets absorb more heat and may cause the bottoms to brown faster, so watch the cookies closely and adjust the baking time if necessary.
5. Sprinkle cookies with sea salt. Salt intensifies the flavor of anything that it touches. Adding flaked or coarse sea salt to the tops of your cookies elevates the flavor. You can add salt before or after baking. I typically add it after the cookies come out of the oven and it sticks to the warm chocolate.

Cookie Recipe Ingredients

• Butter: You can use salted or unsalted butter, depending on your preference. I bake with salted butter because I like the extra flavor it adds.
• Brown Sugar: Brown sugar adds moisture and richness, giving the cookies their signature chewy texture.
• Granulated Sugar: Granulated sugar helps create crisp, golden edges while balancing the brown sugar.
• Eggs: Eggs provide richness and help bind the dough together for a soft, chewy cookie.
• Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract enhances the chocolate and adds warmth to the overall flavor. Homemade vanilla extract is wonderful if you have it!
• Bread Flour: Bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose flour, giving these cookies their famous chewy texture.
• Cake Flour: Cake flour softens the dough and balances the bread flour, creating tender centers with crisp edges.
• Baking Powder, Baking Soda, and Salt: These work together to provide lift, encourage even browning, and balance the sweetness.
• Bittersweet Chocolate: Jacques Torres recommends using chocolate that is at least 60% cacao. Chocolate discs are traditional, but chopped chocolate bars or bittersweet chocolate chunks create beautiful pools of melted chocolate throughout each cookie.
• Flaky Sea Salt: An optional sprinkle of flaky sea salt enhances the chocolate flavor and perfectly balances the sweetness.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How To Make Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies

Step 1: Start by chopping your chocolate bars into chunks. Set these aside while you make the rest of the dough.

Step 2: Sift the cake flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and set aside. Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the dry ingredients, and mix just until combined, about 5–10 seconds. Add the chocolate pieces and mix gently, taking care not to break them apart.

Step 3: Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

Step 4: When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside. Scoop 6 mounds of dough onto a baking sheet, sprinkle with sea salt, and bake until golden brown but still soft, 16-18 minutes.

Why Chill the Dough?

One of the secrets behind Jacques Torres' famous cookies is the long chilling time. As the dough rests, the flour absorbs moisture and the flavors deepen, creating cookies with richer caramel notes, chewier centers, and better overall texture.

If you're short on time, you can bake the dough immediately, but allowing it to chill for at least 24 hours produces the best flavor.

Step 5: Once the cookies are completely cool, melt the bittersweet chocolate. Spoon a small amount onto the bottom of each cookie and spread it into a thin, even layer with an offset spatula or butter knife.

Step 6: Place the cookies chocolate-side up on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate briefly, if needed, until the chocolate is completely firm.

Why Brush the Bottoms with Chocolate?

Brushing the bottoms with chocolate was not part of the original New York Times recipe, but it is a technique Jacques Torres later demonstrated on television. The thin layer of bittersweet chocolate hardens as it cools, adding an elegant finish and even more rich chocolate flavor. This step is optional, but it makes the cookies especially decadent.

Step 7: Once the chocolate has hardened, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

Jacques Torres Cookies FAQs

Love baking famous chocolate chip cookies? Be sure to browse my complete collection of chocolate chip cookie recipes, including bakery favorites, restaurant-inspired cookies, copycat classics, and family recipes that are perfect for every occasion.

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