Chocolate Chipies

I can't believe that I haven't yet shared the recipe with which I have been having a love affair. Sorry Rick. I think he knows and he benefits from it, and doesn't care. It's an amazing and simple recipe. Be prepared to love me for sharing. Blogger Jamie from My Baking Addiction inspired my initial chocolate chip cookie-off and so when she mentioned a recipe that bumped her then-favorite down I had to try. Without further ado: Big Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I do make some slight changes. The dough is best eaten right away, but if you plan on actually getting to the baking phase, I would let the dough rest 24-36 hours. I didn't make full-on four ounce *gasp* cookies, but I get them large and in charge. It makes about 24 when I make these. I also use half salted and half unsalted butter. I use just over one bag of chocolate chips and at least HALF must be Ghiradelli 60% chocolate chips. At least half (the other 40-50% should be semi-sweet). I have also used Ghiradelli squares chopped up and they work just fine too. Either way, at least half people!!! Finally, I sprinkle sea salt on top to bring out all of that delicious Ghiradelli! Yum. you have no idea. I beg you all to make these and report back any changes you made and if you loved these bad boys as much as I do.

A Chocolate Chip Cookie-off!

With as much time I spend meandering about the baking blogs, I've come across about a gazillion recipes that all look good enough to eat right off the screen and it feels like I'll NEVER have time to try them all- so I decided to have a cookie off and compare two recipes in one night! Plus- TWICE the goodies! YAY! Amy was a wonderful baking compadre (and she has a Kitchenaid, I'm just sayin...). She came armed with her best recipe courtesy of Thomas Keller a al Ad Hoc at Home. The book had some DELICIOUS looking recipes in there and she had tried the recipe before with a smaller, less accomplished mixer. I came armed with a recipe from My Baking Addiction for the Extraordinary Chocolate Chip Cookies. Jamie did not disappoint!

So she graciously let me start with my recipe. Nothing too extravagant in the recipe. The strange thing about chocolate chip cookies is that no recipe is really that far off from any other. All of the recipes have the same basics- butter, brown sugar, flour, sugar, chocolate chips, eggs, you get the idea). The key is in the ratios of all of the wonderful ingredients. I followed the recipe to a T being that it was the first time I was preparing it. I came up with some changes that I would make after tasting them. First things first though- they came out looking like I DID grab them off of the computer screen! It was insane. The taste was also surreal! The only small change I would make is to use either all salted butter, or one stick (of the two). This time was all unsalted and I think I would have like a bit more salt in there. I also would have mixed the chips better, used all dark chocolate chips (or at least part), and maybe a tinge less brown sugar- like one or two tablespoons less. These are all factors of taste though, so give it a go and make the changes you see fit.

Also worth noting: Amy has a wonderfully developed kitchen. I feel like my kitchen is a pre-teen girl going through "the change" and she doesn't quite have all of her confidence or her umm, fully developed equipment :) Amy's kitchen, on the other hand, is a mid 20's woman who's got all of her equipment in check and knows how to use it- especially her mixer. Man oh man! We got to break it in that night and it was quite a treat! Also? She has a cookie scoop. I never knew I needed a cookie scoop having used my hands to form cookies for the past 25 years. What a TREAT! Almost as much as the Kitchenaid! (Who am I kidding- there was no comparison! But it's nice to know that such a small tool can make baking so much easier) Another treat in Amy's kitchen? Silpat FTW!

After a mouth-watering dinner (Thanks Chris!!!) Amy moved into the ring for round two. I was in charge of reading the recipe from the book and played director. Her recipe called for cold butter (not a normal thing for baking since it adds more crunch), and some more delectable dark chocolate (60% and 72%). Let me tell you, the taste was divine. Absolutely untouchable. I definitely felt like I was eating cookies from an upscale chef at an upscale restaurant. It was how chocolate cookies should taste when they grow up! It was as if in this grown-up cookie the flavors aged so gracefully, while the cookies looked like they needed a little face lift (quite literally as they didn't have much leavening to them), but it's what's on the inside that counts folks! And that's exactly where these cookies ended up- on my inside- YUM! Maybe it was the cold butter that left them a smidge flatter than we would have hoped, but upon consumption, there was no question that Thomas Keller knows what he is doing.

My conclusion: If you like a traditional cookie, try Jamie's from My Baking Addiction. If you have a more refined palate- go big or go home and check out Thomas Keller's wonderful cookbook from his restaurant Ad Hoc. Oh, and I am SO very sorry about the lack of photos. I guess I'll have to force my self to do this again! Any takers? I would love to test out some more recipes!

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is where I can chronicle my adventures into baking- my new hobby. So far I've been baking 1-2 times a week and working with recipes I've found all over the web. For the most part I bake whatever sounds good- from cupcakes to cakes to cookies and to infinity and beyond. Mostly I've done cakes and had some pretty good luck. My goal is to find the best recipes from all of the sites for the classics like chocolate, red velvet, white, yellow, or funfetti. When I see a recipe that calls my name, I'll bake it.

Today I saw some Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies on Doughmessticated and couldn't help but wonder how that would change the flavor of the most classic cookie in the world! So I tried them out.

The recipe starts with melted butter- FINALLY. Most recipes call for room temperature butter. I'm a major last-minute baker and my butter is cold. As I saw in a baking book somewhere, cold butter makes for a more "cold" consistency- i.e. not as soft and squishy. Anyhoodles, the melted butter means I don't require planning. YAY!

There were more pretty basic ingredients: brown sugar, sugar, flour, baking soda, salt. It also had heavy cream, which I see a lot in cakes, but haven't seen in cookies, so I was intrigued. It called for bread flour and I used AP flour, so that may have something to do with my final product. Now, I don't know the difference between the two types, but I know that there is a difference and I thought it had something to do with leavening, so I added a bit more baking soda and salt, just for fun.

So I whipped these bad boys up and the dough is kinda sticky, but a good consistency. They baked to a pretty thick cookie, which looks amazing. These are easily the prettiest cookies I've made. I think it was the buttermilk that gave them this slightly matte sheen that cracks with the baking process. I swear- they're so pretty they look fake! I was pretty stoked to see them look so pretty, but the first dozen came out a little hard. The recommended timing was 12-17 minutes and I did 13:30 and it was too long. The next batch I did 12:30 and they were beautiful!!! Highly recommended.

Taste test has come through and the flavor is just divine. I just wish they actually were chewy. I haven't tasted the second two batches since they've cooled completely, but I am hoping for a softer result. Maybe it was the AP flour substitution for Bread flour- who knows? Even the well done cookies are just delightful with milk- trust me, I tried.

Best of luck should you try these lovelies! Let me know what works for you!

Original Recipe link