I have a lot of feelings about chocolate chip cookies.

For the most classic cookie in the book, the humble chocolate chip cookie all too rarely gets the love it deserves. All too often they turn out crunchy and stale, a mere suggestion of the divine cookies they could be. With a few tweaks, though, it’s possible to get a perfect batch every time: the chewy texture of a store-bought cookie with the freshness of homemade. This recipe, adapted from a Jacques Torres recipe originally printed in the New York Times, is just that. Every time they’re decadent without being overly sweet, perfectly chewy, and gigantic to boot.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Jacques Torres for the New York Times

2 scant cups cake flour*
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks butter, very slightly softened
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 heaping cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 16 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips
*If you don’t have cake flour, make some by mixing 1 3/4 cups flour with 1/4 cup cornstarch.

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars until very light, about five minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, five to ten seconds. Dough will be very thick. Fold in chocolate chips. For a better cookie, refrigerate dough for at least 24 hours before using.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for clean removal (optional) and set aside. Scoop large golf-ball size mounds of dough (about 1/4 cup per cookie) onto baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with coarse salt (optional) and bake until still soft yet beginning to brown, 18-20 minutes. Cookies will continue to set for 30 minutes after removed from the oven–slightly underbaking will result in a chewy cookie. Let set for 10 minutes on the sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cool.