Drinking coffee, for me, is about caffeine –> body (quickly, please), but tea? It’s all about the presentation. PG Tips and chocolate-chip cookies (recipe below) just taste better when beautiful teacups and vintage lace tablecloths are involved.
Now we need to talk about what I made to go with the tea, because it is the most delicious cookie in the world. It’s the New York Times’ famous chocolate chip cookie recipe (they consulted with top bakers all around the country to come up with it), and it is both incredible and – even for me, who historically has a weird amount of difficulty with chocolate chip cookies – unscrewupable.
The key: let the dough sit for at least 24 hours, so that the liquids can distribute throughout. You’ll end up with a dryer dough than you’re used to – it’ll feel crumbly and not-quite-right when you’re spooning it onto the baking sheet – but that’s the desired effect: the end result of all this waiting and waiting and waiting (and eating of raw cookie dough because no more waiting, please) is tea party perfection.
What you need:
Time: 45 minutes, plus at least 24 hours’ chilling
2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
1 2/3 cups bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter (remove from refrigerator 20 min. pre-baking)
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks (I used Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips)
What you do:
1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or a regular old wooden spoon), cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.
4. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Incorporate chocolate pieces.
5. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
7. Scoop mounds of dough onto baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes.
8. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm.
Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.
The china pictured here is all Noritake’s Lacewood Gold pattern (I think it’s so pretty; I love the addition of glam gold details to an otherwise traditional floral pattern), and makes such a beautiful gift: try the square plate (love the shape and the raised details), the set of two mugs, or the full Tea for Two Set).
And as pretty as the china looks in photographs, it’s honestly even more spectacular in person: my favorite patterns (which would probably be Lacewood Gold and Hertford, both of which blend vintage and modern elements) have textured details that make the pieces feel more like usable artwork than simple table settings.
(FYI, Noritake is having a huge Black Friday sale, with everything on the site – including sale items – 30% off starting today at 5PM EST.)
This post was created in collaboration with Noritake China.
