Here is an example of an original -- my own chocolate chip cookie recipe that I developed over time starting from something from an old chip bag from the 80s. There is nothing wrong with this recipe and most folks seem to like them. They look like this:
Today was the culmination of an experiment whereupon I used the New York Times cookie recipe from last fall which takes about a day and a half. They look like this:
While both have aesthetically pleasing elements, there are only a couple of fundamental differences. First, NYT uses butter which is more sensitive to temperature and humidity than shortening seems to be. Secondly, NYT uses chilling to bond flour, develop gluten, and develop flavor (in this case brown sugar + butter = toffee). 36 hours of waiting seems to make one desire a cookie more than usual.
The NYT article can be found here. My first batch (pictured) was a little flat while the second two batches came out tall and fluffy. This was either due to an ill heated oven, too cold dough, or perhaps I overworked the first batch while molding into shape. Regardless, I think the texture is improved but I am still not sold on butter over shortening. Next iteration, I believe I will chill my original recipe to see if any improvement in texture or flavor development can be found...
