Malted chocolate chip cookies

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a recipe developer in want of a hit must chase the most inventive, original, and outlandish creations.

When I first began writing recipes — an odd exercise after a lifetime of instinctive cooking — invention felt like the whole point. It isn’t. The Italians have always understood this. Their greatest dishes are exercises in restraint: good ingredients, handled simply, with nothing to prove. The real satisfaction, I have slowly learned, lies not in chasing the new but in honoring the known: taking something familiar and making it my own.

Speaking of classic recipes, I’ve been on a quest to create a signature chocolate chip cookie recipe that my family and I can commit to memory and bake on repeat.

This is my version of a perfect cookie: a centre that yields and is slightly underbaked (or, as I like to say, medium rare); edges that crisp and crinkle; a caramelized malted sweetness; salt for contrast; and chocolate that is dark but never bitter.

Moreish, dunkable, and as close to perfect as a cookie can be, It took more rounds of testing than I care to admit — but I think I’ve cracked it!

P.S. It also happens to be my birthday today, so I may or may not have already eaten one of these for breakfast. No regrets.

Read on for the recipe.

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The simpler the recipe, the more the details count. A cookie is a combination of flour, butter, sugar, eggs, and chocolate — there is nothing to hide behind, which means every decision earns its place. The notes below are there to help.

• Sugar as texture: You might think the type of sugar doesn’t matter — but here it does. A higher proportion of granulated sugar encourages spread and those lacy, crisp edges, whereas brown sugar keeps the centre soft and chewy adding a gentle molasses warmth.