16 April 2015
Welcome friends. I just photographed a new image for Spring. I am challenged when it comes to flowers. I've been using them on the seasonal shots that appear on the home page. They are a great way to bring the season and some color into the photograph. I've been working with a local shop in Chicago called
About a year ago, I saw an article and recipe for chocolate chip cookies in the newspaper. I loved the article and decided to give the recipe a try. I didn't have any luck with the recipe, but it inspired me to do some research and come up with my own recipe. The article mentioned another article published by the
This information gave me ideas about how to conduct my own experiments. I started playing around with ingredients and techniques and tried to understand how small changes altered the cookie; I like to think of it as a cookie lab. I started with my biscotti recipe, but that didn't deliver a successful chocolate chip cookie. Flour was an obvious change point. I've been combining regular and wheat flour and all I had to do was find the right combination. For me, this was equal parts of both flours.
I decided to use chocolate chips that were easy to find, and after some tasting I settled on the Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet baking chips. My next decision was to replace some of the regular sugar with light brown sugar. I replaced about half a cup for each experiment.
I tried melting the butter and got chewy cookies, but they were flat. I discovered that microwaving the cubed butter for a short time softened the butter and provided a chewy center, but the cookies were not as flat. Chilling the cookie dough overnight also helped to inflate the cookies. This gives the egg and flour a chance to hang out together. I tried chilling the dough for a second day and got more inflated cookies, but I noticed an egg flavor that I didn't enjoy. The lesson learned was the importance of some chilling time.
Oven temperature is also an important factor. I bake my biscotti at 350° F, but I like to bake these cookies at 375°F. The higher temperature gives the brown sugar a chance to caramelize and make the outer edge slightly crispy. I enjoy the combination of a crispy edge and chewy center.
Sometimes I like to add a ground spice like mace, which is the outer part of nutmeg. If I am adding nuts (for me that means filberts), I will add some cinnamon. They are good without either of these additions.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
30 min. prep time | chill overnight | plus bake time
Ingredients
makes about 24 cookies
- 1 stick plus 2 Tbl butter, cubed then softened
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp spice (such as mace or cinnamon), optional
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/3 cups chocolate chips (60% cacao)
Directions
cube the butter, place it in a microwave safe bowl, and heat on high for 30 seconds. This should soften the butter and melt a small amount.
combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spice (if using) in a medium bowl. Stir the dry ingredients with a whisk to combine.
place the sugars in a mixing bowl. Use a paddle attachment to combine them. Add the butter and mix at medium speed until combined. Stop the mixer and scrape the bottom of the bowl a few times. Add the almond extract and mix for about a minute.
add one of the eggs and mix until it is incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add the second egg and mix the batter at medium speed to combine, about 30 seconds more.
add the flour mixture all at once and stir with a wooden spoon. Once the batter begins to look shaggy, add the chocolate chips. Stir until everything has been incorporated and the dough starts to move around the bowl as a single mass.
chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator.
preheat the oven to 375° F.
use a scoop or tablespoon to drop cookie dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. I like to use a medium-sized ice cream scoop that is a little over a tablespoon. Bake the cookies until the edges are golden brown, about 12 to 14 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. I like to bake 1 sheet at a time to ensure that the cookies are not over baked. The edge should be crispy, but the center should be chewy.