Dark chocolate and sea salt cookies

I've been making these cookies since I stumbled across Jaques Torres' recipe in a New York Times article and people go nuts over them. They are not your standard Toll House cookies - they require good chocolate (I like Guittard or Valhrona,) two types of flour, and an overnight rest of the dough in the fridge. The two types of flour and the overnight rest are what make these cookies so amazing - they're chewy and crisp at the same time. They are, in a word, outofthisworld.

Jacques Torres' Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (adapted from The New York Times)

Ingredients

• 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
• 1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) 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 at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks, at least 60 percent cacao content (Jacques Torres, Valhrona, Guittard)
• Sea salt (I like to use Maldon but a good flaky sea salt will do)

Method

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 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, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and mix until evenly incorporated. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours.
3. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours, or frozen for a few months.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.
5. Scoop 12 mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 14 to 18 minutes depending on your oven. DO NOT OVER BAKE and error on the underbaked side. They will firm up a little while they cool.
6. 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 another day. Dough also freezes perfectly.

Yield: 4 dozen.