I Have Chocolate on My Mind

Cookies in the oven, cookbooks on the floor, and a Netflix debut around the corner

The other day, I found myself sitting in my office, pulling cookbooks off the shelves in search of every volume I own on chocolate. I usually keep my dessert books neatly sorted—pies in one place, ice creams in another, baking in its own tidy cluster—but for reasons I still can’t explain, my chocolate-focused books were scattered everywhere. My copy of Dandelion Chocolate: Making Chocolate was filed among the science cookbooks; Le Cordon Bleu’s Chocolate Bible had somehow ended up among the baking books.

I was, admittedly, a little annoyed with myself. I take an unreasonable amount of pride in keeping things organized. But what surprised me more was the small rush of excitement I felt each time I picked one up. Holding Paul A. Young’s The Joy of Chocolate instantly transported me back to Seattle’s Book Larder, where I bought it during a stop on my book tour a few years ago. A Passion for Chocolate by Rose Levy Beranbaum is David Lebovitz’s copy, passed on to me when he cleared out a storage unit of cookbooks in San Francisco. And then there’s the Callebaut book I’ve never actually cooked from, but adore nonetheless, simply for its wildly seductive combinations of fruit and chocolate—ideas I still want to eat every time I imagine myself as a chocolatier.

Much like a slab of chocolate itself—dense with mood-altering compounds like theobromine, phenylethylamine, and caffeine—spending time with these books flooded me with memories of things I’ve already done and things I still aspire to (and, if I’m being honest, might never get to). It’s why I love cookbooks so deeply, and perhaps why I own far too many for my own good.

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This week, a chilly, icy front has settled in across much of the country, which feels like the perfect excuse to turn on the oven and bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies. To get you in the mood, I’ve put together three different versions—each with its own personality.

First, my go-to chocolate chip cookie: buttery, chewy in the center, and crisp around the edges.Then, the famous Salted Rye Chocolate Chip Cookie from the San Francisco Cooking School, with its deep, savory notes and just enough salt to keep things interesting. And finally, a Spiced Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookie from my cookbook Season, created with my gluten-free friends in mind, but beloved by everyone at the table.

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And now for the really sweet news—I’m officially making my Netflix debut next month! 🎉 I’m co-hosting a brand-new show, In the Test Kitchen, with my pals (and brilliant colleagues) from America’s Test Kitchen—Lan Lam, Bryan Roof, and Lidey Heuck.

There are 23 episodes, and they start dropping on February 26 on Netflix. Expect a lot of food, strong opinions, spirited debates, and the kind of kitchen chaos that only happens when very opinionated test cooks are given a platform. I cannot wait for you to watch.