I'm in search of a recipe for good chocolate chip cookie. I've tried many over the years with varying success, but for one reason or another they just... miss the mark, I guess.
Well I just found a new recipe on a page called, oddly, A Girls' Guide to Guns and Butter.
The recipe seemed simple enough, so I tried it... and ooh la la, they were delicious! And picturesque!
I'm not a huge chocolate fan, so I significantly reduced the suggested amount of chocolate chips in the recipe, but otherwise I followed it exactly. Below is the recipe, including the notes from the Girls' Guide page.
• 11 T (5.5 oz, weight) salted butter, melted (hot is fine)
• 2/3 C light brown sugar (do not pack the brown sugar into the measuring cup but scoop it out gently and simply level it off – it should be loose and fluffy, or you will end up using too much and your cookies will be tough)
• 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk (if you don’t feel like separating your eggs, two whole eggs will work as well, resulting in flatter cookies)
• A dash of vanilla
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 C dark chocolate chips (you can also use all semi-sweet or all bittersweet or any combination you like)
Bake at 325F for 12-14 minutes (in my oven, it's 16 minutes).
Last night I made a fresh batch of these cookies, and tripled the recipe. The photos below represent the tripled amount.
I started with butter.
While the butter melted, I cracked eggs and separated some extra yolks as well.
Loosely-packed brown sugar...
...and white sugar.
Adding melted butter.
Mixing. The liquified butter makes things very, well, liquidy.
Baking soda and salt (I forgot to photograph the vanilla).
Adding flour.
The first time I made these cookies, I noted how loose the dough was, even with the flour mixed in. This is due to the liquified butter. Would it hold its shape when it was time to bake, I wondered, or would it blob all over the cookie sheet?
I added about a third or a quarter of the recommended chocolate for the simple reason that I'm not crazy about chocolate (yes, I know -- heresy). Add as much as you wish.
By the time I was ready to put the dough on the pan, the butter had cooled enough that the dough did indeed hold its shape.
While the first batch of cookies was baking, I chopped walnuts. To me, that's what makes for a superb chocolate chip cookie -- lots and lots of walnuts. Sadly no one else in my family sees the light in this regard, so I usually reserve a portion of the dough for last, and load it with walnuts.
First batch (walnut-less) out of the oven, second batch in.
The evening's bounty.
My husband suggested calling these Trollhouse cookies -- which sent me into gales of laughter -- but they shall remain nameless, I suppose.
When I saw that pix of the cookies a couple days ago, I was all set to pack the car and head to Idaho.
ReplyDeleteBut then I realized if they were as good as they looked, they'd be all gone in the 2 days it'd take to get there.
Oh well...........
So thanks for publishing the recipe.
whitelightning in the midwest
My 16yr old son has a recipe that he found in our church published cookbook. It is the BEST chocolate chip cookie ever! He won't tell us the secret that makes them the best, but the last time he made them, I was in the kitchen and saw him getting ready to melt the butter. I told him not to melt the butter, it just needs to be softened to mix well, otherwise the cookies will be flat. He said he always melts the butter. After a few minutes of discussion, he decided not to melt the butter. I realized when the cookies came out of the oven flat and crumbly that maybe he was right about the butter. I have never see a Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe require melting until this one. Maybe I will try it.
ReplyDeleteI must say, I have never had a chocolate cookie that I thought had the right texture until this butter-melting recipe. These totally made me a cookie-baking star around town.
DeleteI am so modest.
Glad you liked the recipe! (The blog title has to do with my love of hunting - shoot the deer, fry in butter, hehe).
ReplyDeleteNice blog too!
Delete- Patrice
My favorite cookies have always been chocolate chip cookies, with half the amount of chips the recipes all call for and tons and TONS of walnuts. Most kids nowadays don't like the nuts. For that matter, many adults don't, either. What gives? My gosh, the flavor of those walnuts is what makes the cookies so good! I don't understand why nuts have seemed to have fallen from grace. Very strange. Our recipe is almost the same as yours, Patrice, but we use more brown sugar than white (we just reverse the amounts.) --Fred and Deb in AZ
ReplyDeleteThis recipe also uses more brown sugar than white.
DeleteI've noticed the same thing about walnuts! Why are people shying away from them? Walnuts are delicious and good for you (Omega 3 or something like that).
DeleteI've never tried melting the butter but you bet I'm going to the very next batch I make. Perhaps I should also grind up some walnuts and hide them inside the cookies. I'll let you know what kind of reception I get.
Those look delicious, thanks for the recipe and the new blog to read. I'll try it next week when this weeks cookies are gone.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I load up on the walnuts and reduce the chips, too.
sidetracksusie
Hah, Sofya's got awesome recipes. I'll be skipping the walnuts and adding the full amount of chocolate though lol.
ReplyDeleteGuns and butter. . .. . BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI needed a good giggle this a.m.
Hubby came up with the name the year I got into guns. I don't have a handgun though, just hunting rifles.
DeleteI have some of everything and a bow too. What tickled me was I was asking a sewing store about cleaning and oiling a mechanical sewing machine. She looked at me like my hair was on fire when I asked if rem oil and rig grease would work...after all its good enough for my guns!
DeleteFor years my husband claimed my CC cookies weren't as good as his mothers because I used walnuts in mine. When I complained to her that my cookies weren't up to par she laughed and laughed. She has been putting walnuts in her cookies all his life- she just grinds them up so he won't know. All the flavor, none the wiser. She told me that years ago and I've never told him. She raised a wonderful son who is a wonderful husband... She can win the cookie contest!
ReplyDeleteA delicious new recipe and a wonderful new blog to read! Thanks Patrice!
ReplyDeletePatrice- love your baking/cooking/canning posts. In fact, right now I can't imagine much nicer than listening to some Chopin, munching a CC cookie and reading your great blog posts. Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteJillEBean
...or Beethoven or Mozart or Copeland or Vivaldi or...
DeleteMy radio is tuned to the classical station 5:30 am til bedtime.
- Patrice
Thank you, Patrice, for posting the recipe. When that picture came up a few days ago I started craving chocolate chip cookies. Like you, I have never found a truly satisfactory recipe. I will try this method. Many thanks, and have a great week.
ReplyDeleteI make CC cookies with a recipe using vanilla pudding mix. Also a great recipe.
ReplyDeleteThis is very nearly Alton Brown's "The Chewy" recipe. Use bread flour rather than AP and they will be even better. :) ENJOY!
ReplyDelete