Category Archives: cookies

The Hunt for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie

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I love chocolate chip cookies. In fact if my last dessert on this earth was a warm chocolate chip cookie with a cold glass of milk, I would die happy.

When I come across a new recipe for the “best chocolate chip cookie ever” I usually try it. All across Pinterest, the New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe keeps popping up. I read the recipe a couple of times and thought about trying it but pushed it aside mainly because the dough needs to rest for 24-72 hours. I am not a patient woman, especially when it comes to cookies. A couple of days ago the recipe appeared on the blog Tidy Mom. I felt oddly patient that day and very curious to see if this is indeed the best chocolate chip cookie ever. It is. The outer cookie has a nice crispness and the addition of the sea salt sprinkled on top of the cookie before it bakes highlights the sweetness of the chocolate. It was almost too much happiness for my taste buds to handle at once but then I got to the middle where the chocolate melts and the crumb is soft and I felt ecstatic.

If you don’t have cake and bread flour already, go out now and buy it. If you don’t have sea salt; get it. It requires a lot of chocolate but it is so worth it! Set aside time for the dough to rest. Be patient. It is worth the wait. Once you bake the cookies and they have cooled a bit share with the people you love with a cold glass of milk. Sit back and smile.

_KH10003Be sure to cream the butter and sugars for about 5 minutes, scrapping down the bowl once or twice.

_KH10005I used a combination of Guittard’s super melt chips and dark chocolate chips. The super melts are large and flat and melt nicely into any cookie, brownie or blondie.

_KH10021I used an ice cream scoop to get consistent golf ball sized cookies. Be sure to sprinkle sea salt on the cookie before they bake.

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The cookies should bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

barely adapted from NY Times Recipe found on Tidy Mom

makes about 3 dozen

**Cookie dough chills for 24-72 hours. These cookies are worth the wait!**

Ingredients:

2 cups minus tbsp unbleached cake flour

1 2/3 cups bread flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4lbs dark chocolate ( I used Guittard)

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt or Sea Salt

Directions:

Sift together flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl once or twice while creaming the butter and sugar mixture. Add your eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add your dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate.

Place dough in an air tight container with plastic wrap pressed against the surface, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours but up to 72 hours.

After the dough has rested for 24-72 hours, pre heat your oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop out golf ball size rounds of dough. I used an ice cream scoop for this part. Sprinkle cookies with sea salt and bake until golden brown, about 15-18 minutes. Transfer entire cookie sheet  to wire rack and allow to cool for about 10 minutes and then place on wire rack to cool a for little longer. Enjoy the cookie warm with a glass of cold milk.

Mini Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches with Sprinkles

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_KH10071

“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”  – Henry James

I love summer in New England. I can’t imagining spending a summer anywhere else. Long days, cold ocean water,  dinner on the beach, lobster rolls and fried claims. Strawberry and peach picking, after dinner walks,  the Pops 4th of July celebration on the Esplanade,  eating outside in the North End, Red Sox games, cold beer and ice cream, of course. When I saw a recipe by Martha Stewart for mini chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches I had to try it. Bubba and the kids love ice cream. I tried to make them a bit healthier by adding white whole wheat flour, but come on, who am I kidding?

_KH10056I read Joanne Chang’s Flour cookbook a few months ago. I highly recommend it. The recipes are fantastic and she gives great baking tips. One of her baking tips is to beat the sugar and butter for about 6-8 minutes on medium speed. You will know you have creamed the butter and sugar long enough when the mixture goes from yellow and sandy to ivory and fluffy. If you are using brown sugar and butter, the mixture should go from muddy brown to a pale brown.

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I love raw cookie dough. I try not to eat it in front of the kids because I don’t want them to eat a raw egg but dam it is hard to control myself when this is staring at me.

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Mini Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches with Sprinkles

slightly adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes about 12

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup of white whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup greek yogurt (I used 2%. Full Fat greek yogurt or sour cream will work here as well.)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cups sprinkles or mini chocolate chips or chocolate jimmies aka chocolate sprinkles. It’s a New England thing.

1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl whisk together flours, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 6-8 minutes, scraping down the sides half way through. Add greek yogurt, egg, and vanilla extract. Continue to beat until smooth about 2 minutes.

With the  mixer on the lowest speed,  gradually add flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Fold in 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Drop 1 rounded tablespoon full of dough on cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. You will end up with 25 to 30 cookies.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Pour sprinkles or chocolate chips on a plate. Scoop about 2 tablespoons of  ice cream between 2 cookies and press gently. Roll the sides of each sandwich in sprinkles or chocolate chips. If the ice cream is melting, place sandwiches in freezer until firm enough to roll in sprinkles or chocolate chips. Transfer sandwiches to baking sheets and freeze until firm; about 2-4 hours depending on your freezer. Wrap each sandwich in plastic wrap. They can be frozen for up to two weeks. Enjoy!