Really Great Chocolate Chip Cookies

Devoted readers, I rarely give out cookie or brownie recipes as you know, but I am in a generous mood tonight so I am going to post what I consider to be a perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. I have adapted it from The Dessert Bible by Christopher Kimball. These are delicious warm from the oven but in my never humble opinion, they are even better when completely cooled.

Preheat oven to 375 (conventional) or 350 (convection)

Prepare a cookie sheet by lining it with parchment.

Ingredients

1/4 cup Crisco (I know, I know...evil trans fat. But, how many of these are you planning to eat? You have a higher chance of getting killed in a car accident than by these cookies....But for those who might be worried about it, I think that Crisco makes a non-trans fat shortening now. Why even include this? Shortening prevents the cookies from spreading out as much as an all butter formula would. You can substitute butter for this, but the cookies will be flatter. Your call.)

8 T (1 stick) butter, softened just a bit

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg white

3/4 tsp to 1 scant teaspoon vanilla (I prefer 3/4 tsp)

2 cups plus 2 T bleached all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 - 3/4 tsp salt (your call..I prefer 3/4)

10 ounces great quality chocolate chips or chunks. I prefer Ghiridelli semisweet chips. Bittersweet overwhelms the cookie in my opinion.

1. In a mixing bowl with a hand held electric mixer, beat the butter and shortening (if using) together until smooth and whipped with a few lumps. Add sugars and beat until blended. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.

2. Whisk together dry ingredients (not the chips).

3. Add dry ingredients to butter/egg/sugar mixture. Blend in until smooth. Fold in the chips or chunks.

4. Place heaping tablespoons of batter on the baking sheet, with at least 1 1/2 inches between cookies.

5. Bake for about twelve minutes, rotating baking sheet once half way through. If at the end of the twelve minutes I notice that the tops aren't brown enough, I switch on the broiler and leave the cookies under it for about 45 seconds.

Cool on a wire rack and eat-em-up-YUM.

Peanut Butter Cookies

I used to make these cookies before Jack was diagnosed with peanut allergy. These are wonderful cookies. I used to bake them in a convection oven but a conventional oven is what the recipe calls for.


2 1/2 unbleached all-purpoase flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (this amount will depend on the type of PB you use)
1/2 pound unsalted butter, softened but still firm
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup extra crunchy peanut butter (if you use unsalted natural, increase salt to 1 tsp. If you use salted PB, keep salt as is)
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup roasted salted peanuts, ground to resemble breadcrumbs

1. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, beat butter until smooth and creamy. Add sugar, beat until light and fluffy, about three minutes, stopping to scrape down bowl as necessary. Don't skimp on time in this step. Make sure the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the peanut butter until fully incorporated, then the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Gently stir in the dry ingredients. Add ground peanuts and stir until incorporated.

2. Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least three hours to overnight. If you bake them without chilling, the dough will spread more during baking resulting in a thinner cookie. You can do this, but if you have the time, chill them for best results.

3. Adjust the oven rack to low center position. Preheat to 350 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment.

4. Working with a generous 2 tablespoons each time, roll dough into 2-inch balls. Place ball on the parchment-lined cookie sheet, leaving 2 1/2 inches between them. (This is a critical thing in cookie making. It is better to have few cookies on a sheet and do a few baking batches than to crowd them.)

5. If you want to form the characteristic criss-cross found on peanut butter cookies, go ahead. Dip the fork in a glass of water between presses. Don't press too much. Avoid flattening the cookies too much.

6. Bake until the cookies are puffed anad slightly brown along edges and the bottoms are golden brown, 12 - 13 minutes, turning baking sheet in oven halfway through baking. Cool until set, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.